Breeze's Delivery Service
by Zinc210
Summary: Alchemy is restored and peace is sweeping across the lands. The heroes of Golden Sun separate, but one Jupiter Djinni is going to keep everyone in touch. Amount of shipping changes as story goes. wind/steam and an itty bit of vale shipping so far.
1. Chapter 1 Two winds and a Water Depart

Hey guys, for those of you not new to this story, you probably remember what this chapter looked like. I decided to rewrite it because despite some saying that my story is good, it lacks a "hook" that'll reel readers in. We can't have a lame first chapter, can we? So I took the time to rewrite it and (hopefully) make it more interesting. Criticism to improve my writing is much appreciated!

Post TLA

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Chapter 1

Following the lighting of the Mars Beacon, and the shock that Vale is now buried, the eight heroes have been enjoying what they earned. They took a few weeks in Vault to rest from their tiring journey. Many of the Djinn took their leave now that their assistance was not needed, but some decided to stay with the adepts whom they considered good friends. It was decided by the mayors of both towns to expand the small town of Vault to accommodate the recently evicted people of Vale.

The ongoing period of rest was good for all of the young heroes, and they all enjoyed their time together. Eventually, Ivan and Sheba departed from Vault to return to Kalay and Lalivero respectively. They were accompanied by six of the Jupiter aligned Djinn, one of them whom everyone was more than glad to be rid of.

"Breeze is gone? Thank the gods!" yelled one overly enthusiastic Venus Djinni

"Finally!" exclaimed another, "I won't have to worry about replanting my garden… every… single… day…" Tears of happiness seemed to well up in her eyes. The Mercury Djinni next to her, named Dew, chuckled lightly.

"Wow, I never realized how much he irritated you guys," she commented. Breeze was hands down the most obnoxious and annoying of all the elementals. Some of his own kind even began to tire of him. He seemed to find pleasure in pestering others, and he was so accident prone, it was risky to keep anything valuable within a fifty foot radius of him lest it be destroyed by one of his absent minded goof ups. It was really quite sad.

"Well, that's because he doesn't annihilate anything of yours on an hourly basis," Flower responded.

"H-Hourly?"

With her Lighthouse-guarding duties completed, Mia was no longer required to stay in Imil, but she wanted to visit to see her pupils, Megan and Justin, and see the old couple she held so dear. However, not everyone was so keen on her going by herself.

"Mia, if you really have to go, I'll go with you!" a tall young man with spiky, red hair exclaimed. He was standing in the doorway of one of the rooms of Vault's inn. Over near the bed, a girl clad in warm-looking robes and long blue hair was packing a small bag. She turned to him with a smile.

"No, no, Garet, I'll just go by myself. I won't be gone no more than a couple weeks. Plus, Fizz, Dew, and Tonic will be with me." She picked her bag and large staff with a white, metal ankh at its tip and approached him. She looked up at him and saw the defiant pout on his face. "Come on, now! It's not that long."

"But…" She put her hands on her hips and gave him a look that said that she had made up her mind. "Okay… I'll see you off then," he gave in.

"Alright, everyone," Mia said, meeting the gaze of all her friends, "I'll return as soon as I can. Take care!" The five remaining adepts waved as she began her way eastward. The departure was rather carefree, and her goodbye was surely felt to be temporary, but several weeks had passed and she hadn't returned.

--

"I really hope nothing happened to her on the way to Imil…" Jenna said worriedly. It was midday, and she was enjoying a walk with Isaac. "It's been almost five weeks."

"I'm sure she's fine. It does take quite a while to make a round trip. It also depends on how long she decides to stay." Isaac put a hand on her shoulder, trying to reassure her. She smiled and leaned her head on his shoulder as they walked. Since they've returned, they've spent much time together. They've always been close, but their journey has done nothing but make the desire to be with each other even stronger. As they walked, a brown orb of light floated out of the ground and took the tiny form of a similar colored creature with a back covered in brown quills.

"Hey, Isaac, whatchya doin'?" it asked with large blue eyes.

"Nothing really," he responded.

"Oh, hey, Flint," Jenna greeted when she noticed the Djinni. "What have you been up to?"

"Nothing, nothing," he lied. He was always busy with something. Most of the time, he was with Isaac at some area he frequents outside of town. "Isaac, are we going to go do the thing today?" he asked.

Jenna became slightly annoyed. She had been persistent at getting Isaac to tell her what he was doing, but he wouldn't spill. Following him didn't work, because Flint, Granite, and Mold would work their magic to stop her in any way possible. She eventually gave up, trusting he wasn't doing anything shady.

"No, not today," the blonde responded. His stomach let out a small growl. "It's about lunch time. Want something at the inn, Jenna?" She crossed her arms.

"Well, I was planning on trying this new recipe when we got back. You still going to be hungry then?" she asked.

"Mm, maybe?" he said with a joking smile.

"Whatever, I'll make you eat it even if you're not," she said with a mischievous grin. Isaac just chuckled. Since they've been back, Jenna had gotten into cooking with her mother. They'd both cook interesting meals with various recipes Jenna's mother picked up in Prox.

They had just left the part of Vault that was filled with the many houses in construction. With the combined abilities of both towns, they were able to get half of Vale's population nice, cozy homes. Felix, Piers, and Garet spent their free time assisting with the construction, but Isaac had been more preoccupied with Jenna and whatever other endeavor he was dealing with outside of town.

--

"Augh! Dammit!" Garet yelped in pain. He had just smashed his finger with his hammer. He was sitting on top of a half-finished roof.

"That's the third time today!" commented the blue-haired man working with him, "you need to concentrate or you'll lose your thumb."

"Yeah yeah, Piers…" He took off his left glove and examined the thrice-smashed thumb. It was swollen, red, and started to bleed from under the fingernail. "Shit, man. Freaking hurts." He rubbed it as it throbbed in pain. Following the sound of footsteps, a head of dark brown hair comes up the ladder.

"Garet maybe you should take a break. I'll take over for the time being." Garet nodded to him and climbed down a nearby ladder.

"Felix, did you notice he's been acting strange lately?" Piers asked as he hammered another nail into the wooden beam.

"Yeah, I wonder what's wrong." He replied, picking up the hammer Garet had used to tenderize his own finger. "He spaces out a lot more than usual and seems so distant, but I guess we shouldn't worry about it too much, this _is _Garet after all." The two men looked downwards towards Garet, who was heading home, then just shrugged and brought their attention back to work.

Garet walked down the streets and eventually came up to the house that was home to him and his large family. He went in, greeted his parents and grandparents, and walked up the stairs to his room while still rubbing his throbbing thumb. He opened the door and walked in to lie on his bed. Sitting on his desk across the room and reading a book was a Djinni of the fire element. Another one was in the middle of the floor juggling a ball on its head. He let out a frustrated sigh which alerted the attention of the Djinni who was reading. She noticed his thumb and hopped over to him.

"Smashed your finger again?" she asked. He nodded while staring at the ceiling. The elemental wrapped her flame-like tail around his hand and began to emit a warm aura. The pain melted away and the swelling disappeared completely.

"Thanks, Ember."

"No problem. Maybe you should try to keep your mind on your work?"

"What do you mean?"

"Apparently, you're not paying attention. I know you know how to hit a nail without mutilating your hand," she explained. She already had guessed why he was so distant. There was no word from Mia and it had been several more weeks than she had estimated. Garet was worried she'd never return.

"I guess I just have a lot on my mind."

"That's unusual for you," the other Djinni with the ball joked. Garet sat up and gave it and angry look.

"And what's that supposed to mean, Forge?" he inquired.

"Hehe, nothing," Forge teased. Garet wasn't in the mood to strangle the fire elemental and just returned to staring at the sealing. Ember sighed at Garet's melancholy condition before another thought popped in her mind.

"Hmmm, I wonder if Sheba made it to Lalivero okay…"

Crash!

Forge had sent his toy across the room and knocked off almost everything stacked on Garet's desk.

"Whoops," Forge said, eyeing the mess he made. Garet gave him a look that told him he had better make himself scarce for a couple hours…

-------

Eh, I rewrote it and I think it's better than the original, but I think it needs improvement still.

Comments would be greatly appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2 Home at Last

Okie dokie, Second chapter. Thanks to all who took the time to read my story!

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Chapter 2: Home at last

"Ugh, finally!" grunted the girl with short, blonde hair. She walked over to the vanity and picked up a brush. She began brushing, causing a mass of sand grains to fall out of her hair. "So glad that's over…" An equally blonde haired boy with shining violet eyes walks up to her.

"Yeah, I should've expected that there'd still be Storm Lizards running around the desert." He holds his hands outward as a small wind swirls around him, picking up all the sand in his clothes and scattering it across the room.

"Hey hey! I just got here, Ivan. I don't want my room to be full of sand" the girl said, annoyed. She brought an arm forward, causing a small breeze to sweep up the scattered sand into a pile.

"Oh, sorry Sheba," Ivan smiled, embarrassed. He watched Sheba continue brushing her hair. There was something about her that appealed to him. Although they were of the same element, they were two very different individuals. He was quiet and shy, but she was more outgoing and confident. Maybe that's why he's had this sudden interest in her. She's everything he wasn't and wanted to be. It's strange that she would end up the way considering she was revered as "Child of the Gods" and was kidnapped against her will. He had to admit, she was strong.

The fact that she was so pretty probably had something to do with it too.

"Hm? What's wrong?" Sheba had caught Ivan gazing at the mirror, unaware that he was admiring her.

"Nothing, nothing, just thinking," he turned away to hide a slight blush. Sheba raised an eyebrow as she looked at him through the mirror's reflection. She put the brush back down on the vanity and patted her hair.

"Whew, no more sand-head!" She whirled around to look at Ivan, who was no longer blushing. "I appreciate you coming with me," she said, smiling.

"Ah, it was nothing." He averted his gaze from Sheba's Emerald irises, "I'm just glad we made it pretty much unscathed." They both remembered back to when they were wandering the desert.

Four figures shrouded in cloaks were walking against the wind.

"Wow, this wind is crazy!" said one of the figures in a deep voice. He was carrying a spear and was wearing heavy armor.

"I don't think we can make it to Lalivero under these conditions," the figure next to him remarked. He also donned armor and a spear, but he wore a helmet that covered his face, unlike the other who's short brown hair was at the mercy of the desert sands. The two shorter figures behind them looked at each other.

"I think we should use our psynergy to ease things up," suggested one of them, whose violet eyes shone through the hood. The other with green eyes nodded in agreement. He walked in front of the taller men and raised both his arms, closing his eyes in concentration. The two men were baffled as to what he was doing, but were pleasantly surprised when the wind suddenly eased up.

"He must been one of them whatchamacallits!"

"Adepts?" the other man sighed.

"Yea yeah, those!" The girl pulled down her hood revealing her short golden locks and walked towards the one who calmed the winds.

"Now why are these two with us again, Ivan?" she asked him. He pulled down his hood and turned to look at her.

"They figured youngsters such as our selves would need escorting through the _dangerous desert_" he whispered, doing funny hand gestures that made Sheba giggle.

"Seems to me like we're going to do most of the escorting!" she mocked, both of them laughing. The two soldiers moved towards the laughing teens, and signaled to them that they should keep going. They walked a good half hour until a small purple light erupted from Ivan's shoulder. It quickly took the form of a creature with large blue eyes, a long feather like head, two wings and a stubby purple body.

"Hey hey," it whispered into Ivan's ear.

"What is it?"

"Nothing."

"Breeze, you must be bored again…" Ivan said, rolling his eyes.

"I'm _always _bored" it lamented, "I wish some monsters would come out to spice things up!" Suddenly the wind kicked up again, obscuring their vision with sand. Ivan raised his hands again to attempt to calm it, but it didn't work this time.

"Huh?" he said with a growing look of concern.

"It didn't work?" Sheba asked, growing concerned as well. The small group stopped moving as the winds suddenly started growing stronger.

"I think something is using psynergy to create this storm!" He deduced. The little Jupiter Djinni on his shoulder started to hop around frantically.

"Oh uuh um I guess I'll be going. I might get blown away!" and with that, he dematerialized back into purple light and disappeared back into Ivan's shoulder.

"Dang it Breeze!" Unbelievable, Ivan thought. He asks for something to happen, gets it, then runs and hides. The gusts blew with growing intensity. Sheba started to slide backwards before Ivan grabbed her hand.

"Ack!" yelled the helmet-less who fell over from the wind. Right as the trio gathered around him to help him up, they heard an ear shattering roar. Horrified, they looked upwards to see a twelve foot tall purple lizard with large frills around its neck. It let out another roar as the frills flapped outwards making it more menacing than it already is, and lunges straight at them with claws extended.

--

A little bit longer this time. In case none of you got it, it went into a flash back. I'm not sure if I described the transition very well…

(Bright Purple flash of light)

Breeze: Yay! My grand entrance! My rise to star-dom has begun!

Me: (O.o) Uh sure… Tell me what you guys think!


	3. Chapter 3 Feelings made known

Little late for Disclamer, buuuuuut… Characters do not belong to me, all belongs to their respective makers (Camelot, Nintendo, blah, blah)

Ewww, I suck at titles…

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Chapter 3: Feelings made known.

The four jump out of the way, and the soldier without a helmet immediately lunges towards the beast with his spear.

"Yah!" he yelled as he closed in on it. The lizard casually swiped at the man with its tail, slamming him into a rock formation. He slumped to the ground, unconscious. The other soldier used this as an opportunity for to strike. Quick to react, the monster swipes at him with a claw. He fends it off with his spear and counters with a jab. The beast dodges and swipes at the man again, his attack deflected by the man's tough armor. The two exchange blows as Ivan and Sheba stand up.

"This one actually seems competent," she remarks. Ivan closes his eyes and aims his arm at the soldier in melee.

"This should make him more than that!" a burst of red psynergy erupted from Ivan's limb and entered the body of the man(1). He experienced a sudden increase in strength as he matched spear to claw with the beast and manages to break past its defenses and stab it in the side. The Lizard roars in pain.

"Woah!" the man exclaimed, surprised by his strength, which was actually borrowed from Ivan's psynergy. The monster backs away and opens its frills once again. It began to glow. The man, who seemed not to have noticed this, charged at the best.

"Uh oh!" Sheba exclaimed. Using her natural agility, she ran between the man and the lizard and began to concentrate. Ivan had no time to stop her.

"Sheba!"

The lizard unleashed several tornadoes of wind that mowed a path through Sheba and the soldier, kicking up an unbelievable amount of sand. Ivan shielded his face with his arm. Scared of the possible outcome, he lowered it and saw Sheba and the soldier still standing, surrounded by a purple aura(2). Sheba's psynergy had deflected most of the attack. The lizard seemed agitated that its assault was ineffective and began to charge towards them. Before it got close, a searing pain surged through its body, preventing it from moving and allowing its targets to back away. It turned to see the blonde boy with both arms outstretched, releasing streams of violet electricity into the lizard(3).

The lizard, still held by Ivan's bolts, opens its frills again. Ivan stopped the attack, realizing it wasn't having much of an effect. The monster was Jupiter aligned as well. With a screech, three blades of air were shot from the monster. Ivan dodged them until he had joined up with Sheba and the guard who had also retreated to a safe distance behind a rock formation. The lizard continued to fire blades at the rock, slowly blasting away chunks of stone.

"Where's a Venus adept when you need one!?" Sheba lamented. The soldier was panting, and seemed to be worn out. Ivan thought for a second until he had an idea.

"Sheba, use Wheeze to cripple the monster!" she nodded and understood his plan. Wheeze appeared on her shoulder.

"Alrighty then, I'm ready!" it said between labored breaths before quickly infusing itself into her staff. Ivan jumped out from one side of the rock, releasing more bolts of electricity from his hands to grab the monsters attention. Hissing, it begins charging up more psynergy. Out of nowhere, Sheba zooms from her hiding placed straight up to the beast. It notices her and tries to react, but it was too late.

"Hiyah!" she yells as she jabs the beast in the chest with her staff, releasing Wheeze's power into the abomination. The monster's eyes widen as it stumbles back, then quickly swings its tail, slamming it into Sheba and knocking her into the air.

"Crap!" Ivan runs to catch Sheba before she hits the ground. He looked at her, her eyes were closed. He looked at the beast. The creature was struggling to stay standing as disease spread through its body, and then it eventually fell to the ground, dead, or at least unconscious. The winds suddenly stopped blowing, revealing the rocky dunes and stone formations of the Suhalla. Everything fell silent. He looked back at Sheba, sighing in relief when she opened her eyes.

"What happened did it work?" she inquired as she rose to an upright position, scanning her surroundings. She saw the lizard motionless, and beamed a victorious smile at Ivan. He couldn't help but smile back at her.

"Looks like it." The soldier went over to his downed comrade, and looked him over.

"Eh, he's gonna be out for a while." He picked up the man and slung him over his soldier. The Jupiter adepts were in awe of his strength, especially after such a battle. "Well, let's go." A purple light exited Sheba's staff into the air and formed the body of a Jupiter Djinni, followed by another who exited Ivan.

"Yeah! That was awesome!" Breeze exclaimed while flapping to stay in the air, "We totally kicked butt!" Wheeze coughed at his comment.

"What do you mean we?" Wheeze he said in a sore sounding voice, "You didn't do crap!" He coughs in Breeze's direction, causing the Djinni to flinch.

"Ewwww! At least keep your Djinni germs to yourself!" The two young adepts couldn't help but chuckle at the two as they continued on their way through the Suhalla desert, the two Djinn flying over to their respective adepts and fusing with their bodies.

It was nothing they couldn't handle, but they were both glad _that_ encounter was over.

"Hopefully the Suhalla will be a bit less dangero…" before he could finish Sheba snuck up on him and gave him a small peck on the cheek. He froze. This had caught him completely off guard.

"Thanks for being there for me," she whispered into his ear before walking out of her room. Ivan stood there for a good four seconds before becoming apple red and collapsing to the floor.

--

He opened his eyes to find himself staring at Sheba's ceiling. Her sneak attack seems to have put him out of commission, but for how long? At that moment, a familiar purple, blue-eyed Djinni came into view, sitting on Ivan's chest.

"Wow Ivan, that kiss knocked you out!" Breeze commented, laughing. "If a peck on the cheek did that, I'm scared that a kiss on the lips would kill you… Ow!" Another Jupiter Djinni came out of nowhere and kicked Breeze off Ivan.

"Hush up Breeze! It's not Ivan's fault he's never experienced such emotions" It scolded. Purple light flowed from Ivan and formed a third Djinni that hovered in place, flapping its wings.

"But still, that rush of emotion through Ivan's body kinda shook me up," it said giggling. Apparently, the Djinn felt what Ivan felt when they were connected with him.

"That wasn't nice, Gust!" Breeze hopped back into the air and joined its brethren in hovering over Ivan's body. "But Kite is right, the emotions were pretty mind boggling. Humans are so weird!" The three giggled in unison.

"Ugh!" Ivan grunted. Their constant chatter over his loss of emotional control embarrassed and aggravated him. He swatted at them with his left hand as he got up, but the three Djinn dodged it easily. He got the message across, though.

"Okay, okay, sorry Ivan! We won't tease anymore…" Kite apologized, then he looked at the other two Djinn and added, "Maybe!" then the three disappeared back into the adept's body.

He got up on his feet and looked out the window to judge the sun's position. Couldn't have been out for too long. The sun was still high in the clear sky. Then, he heard a voice in his head.

_Hey, you're up! Come downstairs, Faran and the rest of my family are back!_

It was Sheba communicating telepathically. She had recently learned to do that on their way to Vale from Prox. At this point, she can only speak to Ivan like this. Since then, they took interest in developing this ability further, and Ivan finally found himself able to do it while they were in Vault. Since then, they tend to have totally silent conversations, that is, until they start getting headaches from constant psynergy use. It was a special bond that they shared.

He brushed some dust off his clothes, fixed his hair a bit and headed downstairs.

"Sister! I've missed you so much!" a little boy said, crying in Sheba's arms. He was holding so tight, she was afraid he wouldn't let go!

"I missed you, too!" She replied. After he reluctantly released her, Faran and his wife proceeded to embrace their adopted daughter, whom they feared would never return. Tears of happiness streamed down the parents' cheeks.

Foot steps were heard coming down the stairs, much to Sheba's family's surprise. Ivan had appeared from the upper floor. Faran looked angrily at him.

"Uh, am I interrupting?" Ivan asks nervously. Faran looked at him fiercely, but his expression soon changed to one of joy as he recognized the short young man. He must have thought he was an intruder at first.

"Ivan! You have brought Sheba back to us!" He yelled, running up to give him a hand shake.

"Oh! I must prepare dinner! This is a glorious occasion, and I know _just_ what to make!" Sheba smiled as her mother ran into the kitchen. She already knew that her mother was going to prepare her favorite foods.

"You must join us for dinner, Ivan." Faran suggested.

"Oh, um, okay. I'd be glad to."

--

The sun was setting over the horizon. Twilight added a mysterious beauty to the desert wasteland surrounding Lalivero. The myriad of orange lights bathed the two Adepts who were sitting on the west wall of the city.

Sheba tilted her head back, closing her eyes as the gentle breeze swept over them. Ivan, who was slumped forward bit, shot at glance at Sheba and watched as the wind blew through her golden locks of hair.

_Hey, hey! Tell her that her hair shines brighter than the Golden Sun itself! _

It was Breeze… Ever since they defeated him and earned his assistance amongst the Tret tree's branches, he's been the annoying little voice adding in his two gold pieces to every conversation. Ivan's made it a habit just to ignore him, but this particular comment made him slap his own forehead with his palm.

"Uh, something wrong?" Sheba asked, eyeing the red mark Ivan left on his forehead.

"Nope, nothing." Ivan turned away, blushing and twiddling his thumbs. He started to sweat and Sheba raised another skeptical eyebrow.

_Oooooh, Ivan's nervous! That's a new one!_

_Oh dear Gods, Breeze! Shut up!_

_No you, Gust!_

The two Djinni broke out into a storm of high pitched voices that echoed throughout his head. Their rounds gave him a pounding headache, and caused his already fluctuating emotions to grow more difficult to deal with.

"Ivan?" Sheba grew concerned as Ivan started twitching and rocking back and forth.

Ivan threw his hands up and roared "Shut up!" his voice echoing throughout the entire west side of the city. His outburst actually caused some people to turn their heads. The Djinn stopped their quarrel, surprised that Ivan actually yelled at them. Breathing heavily, he then turned to Sheba, who was staring at him stunned, with an almost hurt expression.

"No, no, I didn't mean you!" Ivan flailed his arms, "you see, it was Breeze and…"

"Oh… _Breeze_, say no more…" Sheba shuddered as memories flooded her mind. The last time she had custody of Breeze on their journey, lacking the mental control Ivan possessed, the little Djinni wrecked havoc in her brain. Being in a new Adept, he started asking her questions for a whole hour. This resulted in Sheba screaming her lungs out, reaching into herself to pull the Djinni out, and throwing it onto the deck of their flying ship. She proceeded to try to crush him under her foot, but Ivan had restrained her just in time. "Never again!" she yelled.

"Ugh…" Ivan put his head in his hands, frustrated. Sheba sensed his confusion, but was unsure of the cause. He's been acting very strangely ever since they left Vault.

_Sheba, maybe you should try talking to him about… your visions?_

This time the high pitched voice was in Sheba's head. Ever since Isaac and Felix's groups united in Hesperia, she's had strange dreams. They all consist of her traveling Weyard, which was what she was already doing. What makes them stranger was the presence of Ivan in each and every one of them. It baffled her. She was dreaming of a random guy she barely knew. What really takes the cake was that she felt a strange happiness…an unexplainable bliss whenever she has the vision.

For the rest of their journey she ignored them. After the lighting of Mars lighthouse and the forming of the Golden Sun, she wanted to know more and started paying more attention to them. On the way back to Vale, the dreams kept coming. Sometimes they came to her several days in a row, at other times, they'd come every week or so.

Soon enough, she decided to learn more about Ivan himself. In Vault, whenever she wasn't hanging out with Jenna, she was chatting with him. They really hit it off, often talking about experiences involving their psynergy. They've also taken an interest in each other as people.

He was charming. He had an intellect and natural curiosity she had never seen before in a boy around her age. She didn't have to read his mind to find out that he was a gentle soul, with a heart unmatched by others.

As time went by, she couldn't stop herself from thinking about him… and she's also found herself experiencing that same feeling she has after her visions whenever she's around him. He made her… happy. She was overjoyed that he wanted to accompany her to Lalivero after they stopped by Kalay, but she grew very reluctant to arrive, since it meant Ivan leaving her alone.

Sheba sighed and responded to the Djinni who spoke to her. _I don't know, Aroma, something's a bit… off about him today._

_That's because he likes you… _Sheba froze at her comment. _And you already know you like him too… _Sheba started to grow just as jittery as Ivan.

_How do you know?_

_Forget about that, trust me on this one!_

Oh boy, Sheba thought. The thought of Ivan liking her unnerved her, but it also made her feel good. Thoughts about Ivan rushed through her head as she stared downwards and started rocking her legs.

Ivan, who had just finished some breathing exercises to calm himself down, looked at Sheba. Her hair shielded her blushing face from his view. He soon became enticed by her mystical beauty again.

_Dang, dude, you fell head over heels for her…_

Ivan ignored Kite's comment, still enraptured by the Jupiter adept adjacent to him.

"Ivan?" He snapped out of his trance as Sheba said his name. "I want… to tell you something"

"O-okay, sure…" Sheba raised her head and took a short glance at him.

"I… I've been having these visions, you see… and you were in them." This certainly caught his interest. They talked all the time about their visions, but this was the first time either one of them saw the other in one. Sheba continued, "And, well… every time I have this vision… it makes me happy…" She hesitated a bit, and this made Ivan grow nervous again. "Whenever I'm around you… it makes me happy too"

Something went off in Ivan's head. His heart started beating faster… and his Djinn noticed it.

_Uh-oh, temperature's rising. Thing's are getting hot! _Breeze commented in his usual joking manner.

Sheba took another glance at Ivan and took a deep breath before continuing, "These visions made me think… I've yet to figure out my own destiny, and I still barely know anything about myself. I've come to the conclusion… there's nothing for me here in Lalivero…" Ivan gulped and mustered the courage to speak.

"But… what about Faran, and your family?"

"I love them, you know that…" she lifted her head and smiled at him, "but these walls… I feel they will keep me from what I really want." She scooted closer towards him and stared into his eyes. "I want to be with you…"

Eyes closed, she tilted her head and leaned forward until her lips met his. Delight and an emotion never experienced before surged through both their bodies. It was as if they had entered a world in which only the two of them existed.

The Djinn in Sheba cheered.

_Yes…yes… most excellent! _Aroma commented in satisfaction.

_Awww, how shweet… _Wheeze and a third Jupiter Djinni, Lull, commented simultaneously

The kiss went on for several seconds, until…

_Wah!!_ _Overload, overload! Abandon ship!_ Breeze yelled as he and two other Djinni warped out of Ivan, the emotional experience too much for them. Sheba slowly pulled away from Ivan, who was in a state of bliss. Then he fell backwards, and with a loud 'Conk!' had landed head first on the roof of a building several feet below the wall on which they were seated upon. Sheba gasped and covered her mouth with both hands.

"WOW, I think the kiss DID kill him!" Breeze yelled in astonishment.

"Oh Shit!!" yelled Gust as he flew down to the unconscious adept. He flapped around him, noticing that Ivan sported a goofy smile. He looked up to them and yelled, "Don't worry he's still breathing!"

Sheba sighed in relief. She then looked at the darkening sky and smiled…

--

Yesh, battle scene! Action is fun to write (for me that is). I'm new at romantic stuff, so whatever needs work, TELL MEEEE! Early thank you's for all who read (and cookies for those who review!! Never hurts to have higher max PP!!)

Anywhoo… I thought about a little thing for those who read. Notice those asterisks (well they WERE asterisks, but i turned them to numbers in parenthesis... :O) during the fight? They're for…

**Guess that Psynergy!**

Basically, you can unscramble the names to match the Adepts' attacks. Pull out those game packs! (If you'd like :P) Answers will be in the next chapter!

(1) matcip

(2) ssiert (bonus points for the attack she blocked!)

(3) tomsr yra (hmm a little inaccurate, but I wanted something a bit different)

Breeze: Ew, no wants to waste their time with your games!

Me: SILENCE!

Breeze: You cannot silence the star!

Me: -sticks tongue out-


	4. Chapter 4 Taking Flight

Ah sorry peoples! Lots of windshipping so far, but I'll get to the other stuff soon enough. I have lots of stuff swirling in my noggin, but I gotta put stuff in sequence. The updates will probably seem fast, but that's cause I got nothing better to do but write ...

Breeze: When does this "Delivery Service" actually take place?!

Me:….eventually… Shush-a!

Breeze: Oooh I think I see fluffy stuff ahead!

Me: Maybe, I dunno. My ineptitude at writing may not get the emotion I strived for…

Breeze: Aren't we negative today?

Me: I ARE NUB WRITER

Breeze: A little confidence would be nice...

Me: What is this "confidence" you speak of??

Breeze: (Oo)

Anyway, thank you reviewers and readers, for taking time out of your busy lives to read my crap :D

--

Ch 4- Taking Flight

"Do you think… I was maybe a little too fast?" Sheba asked. She was walking through the market place. The bright sun was high above them in Lalivero's always clear sky, signifying it was about noon. She was asked to pick up a few vegetables for the meal her mother was cooking.

"Hard to say… But, according to Kite and Gust, I can safely say that you both feel the same about each other" Aroma reassured her. Sheba smiled as she scanned through the carts of produce but quickly frowned as she reached forward and picked up a few sticks of carrots.

"Ew I hate carrots" Sheba gagged. Aroma giggled at her disdain. The air was filled with a strange scent. It was pleasant and energizing, but impossible to decipher. That was Aroma. She always smelled sweet and her flapping wings did nothing but spread it everywhere she went.

"Well, they say carrots give what you need for good eyesight."

"Lies. I won't believe 'til I see some hard proof," Sheba said, slapping the carrots in the palm of her hand at every syllable. They both chuckled as Sheba put the carrots in a leather bag. Sheba stopped, her expression grew concerned again. Aroma noticed and flew in front of her.

"Don't worry, he's just a 'fainter', he'll grow out of it as he becomes more comfortable." Sheba was puzzled by Aroma's intuition and wisdom when it came to matters of the heart.

"You sure do know a lot about relationships, why is that?" She asked.

"Oh… well, before I joined you, I worked with the matchmaker in the Shaman village where you found me," Sheba tilted her head as she continued, "my, erm, _aroma_, did wonders for calming those who came to her, and allowed them speak easier. I learned a lot!" Sheba grew annoyed when she said this. "Sadly, she passed away shortly before you arrived… she was, like, really, really old and…"

"So… why didn't you soften the mood when I was with Ivan?" She interrupted, putting her hands on her hips. Aroma hovered there confused for a few seconds until what she meant hit her.

"Uuuhhh…whoops" the purple Djinni turned red, embarrassed that she overlooked this convenient, detail. "I… guess I got caught up in the moment? Ehehe…" Sheba sighed and shrugged.

"Whatever. Anyway, let's get back. I got all the icky carrots and vegetables mom needs." She paid the grocer what she owed, and headed home. One more thing crossed her mind on the way back, how was she going to tell her family that she didn't want to stay in Lalivero?

Within minutes, she arrived at home. She opens the door, and sees Ivan laying across the couch, asleep. His head was wrapped in bandages and he was covered in a warm blanket to keep him comfortable as he slept.

Sheba put the bag of groceries on a nearby table and knelt down next Ivan. She watched his slow, easy breaths under the blanket. He was simply adorable.

Seeing him in bandages took her back to when they met up on Jupiter lighthouse. She had tended to his injuries while Jenna took care of Isaac and Kraden assisted Mia and Garet. Even while bleeding freely, he wanted them to tend to his friends first. His loyalty is admirable. At that point, she never thought she'd grow this close to him, but she had her first vision while helping him.

"Sheba, honey, you back?" It was her mother, who was busy in the kitchen, "Could you bring in the vegetables?" Sheba rose and grabbed the fresh vegetables and started towards the kitchen. Before she got through the doorway, she heard a stirring and a soft moan.

"Sh…Sheba…mmmm" She turned around and saw Ivan shift a bit in his sleep. She waited to see if he would say anything else, but nothing. He must be dreaming about her she thought. The very idea made her giggle.

"Ah, thank you" her mother said as she began taking out the vegetables and cutting them. Sheba was looking in Ivan's direction. Her mother looked at her curiously and felt something was wrong, "Something the matter, Sheba?" She jolted to attention when her mother called her name. She shook her head but stopped to think about it.

"Well, actually…" Sheba felt it was time to tell someone what she wanted to do. "I don't want to stay for much longer." Her mother's face showed an expression of sadness as she turned and continued to cut the vegetables. "Mom?"

"I had a feeling… you weren't going to stay long," she said as if her nightmare had come true. "Something told me that this was only a visit." Sheba stared down at the floor as guilt flooded her body. Her mother continued her cutting as she said, "When you returned, I almost didn't recognize you. You've grown so much." Sheba noticed tears forming in her mother's eyes. "I've felt that us keeping you and treating you as our little Savior here has kept you from truly living. It wasn't until you returned that I truly realized this."

Sheba tried to hold back tears of her own as her mother stopped and turned to face her. She stepped forward and embraced her daughter. "M-mom…" Sheba muttered, tears rolling down her cheeks.

They released each other, and looked into each other's eyes, with Sheba's mother's hands on both of her shoulders. "You've become so beautiful… you do what you have to." She said, smiling at her daughter. Sheba lunged forward and hugged her mother again.

"Thanks for understanding," she was so happy that her mother supported her. She felt a weight was lifted now that someone truly understood how she had felt all those years living in Lalivero. She felt she could do anything now.

"Now you just need to explain this to your father." The thought popped into Sheba's mind, and that 'can do' feeling left as quickly as it had come. Crap. He probably wouldn't go for this. Suddenly, a purple creature flew into the kitchen.

"Hey, hey! Ivan's waking up!" Breeze yelled before flying back into the other room. Sheba and her mother smiled at each other after their hug ended, and Sheba ran out of the kitchen. Her mother returned to her cooking duties.

"I'm happy that you've found someone to become close to, Sheba." she whispered.

--

"Mmm…uuh" Ivan moaned as he stirred on the couch. He slowly opened his eyes. Much to his surprise, he had awoken to a vision of beauty staring right at him in a way that made all the aches in his body to disappear.

"Hi there" she said, smiling at him.

"H-hey…" he answered groggily. He smiled under the blanket that covered most of his face. "What happened?" he couldn't recall anything after he and Sheba had kissed. All he remembered was the best feeling he had ever experienced.

"You totally just passed out and landed on that coconut of yours!" Breeze said rather loudly, causing Ivan to cringe as his pain surged back to their respective aching points. Sheba shot an evil glance at the Djinni before turning back to Ivan with a caring expression.

"You…fell off the wall and went unconscious after hitting your head." Ivan's face began turning red again, embarrassed that he actually fainted when he kissed Sheba, the first girl he truly felt this way towards. "The healer said you had a concussion, and that we should keep an eye on you for the next few weeks." Ivan turned to lie on his back with difficulty, his head throbbing painfully and an infernal ring echoing through out. He tried to sit up but couldn't get an inch off his resting place without feeling completely dizzy. These were obviously effects of his head injury.

"Okay… I guess I'm stuck here then," he complained. He could barely move.

"Don't worry, I'll take good care of you," Sheba reassured him, then she raised a finger. "Oh yeah, healer's orders…" He looked at her puzzled. "No more kisses…"

"Awwwwww…" Ivan and the six Jupiter Djinn immediately lamented in unison. Sheba couldn't help but laugh at the sight of Ivan pouting under his blanket. She leaned forward and stroked his head. He closed his eyes, enjoying her gentle, loving touch.

Then she added, "That's what I said, too!"

--

The next week went by very smoothly. Ivan's recovery went well, and he was eventually able to stand up and walk about without feeling nauseous within the next few days. He loved it when Sheba came by to check on him. Much to his dismay, Breeze kept him constant company with his perpetual ramblings when Sheba was busy. Faran often took her to go alert the whole city of her return, but that period is pretty much over.

Sheba walked into the family room with an apple in hand. She was about to take a bite out of the red fruit, but noticed Ivan pacing in front of the fireplace.

"Something wrong?" she asked, walking up to him.

"I… don't know…" Sheba looked at him with a confused expression. He continued, "I think I'm forgetting something."

"Should I probe your noggin?"

"Doubt it would work, since I don't know what it is myself." He started his pacing again. "Let's see, ummmm…" Sheba crossed her arms and thought about it. Suddenly a blast of air flies through the window and swirls around forming four Jupiter Djinn.

"Ello yellow headed peoples!" greeted Kite. They waved hello and returned to their thoughts and Ivan to his pacing. The Djinn look back and forth between them and tilt their heads curiously. Another gust of wind blows through the same window and forms two more Djinn.

"Ugh! Ivan, _please_ tell Breeze that the Tempest Lizard is the purple one, and that the Storm Lizard is green!" whined Gust.

"Nuh-uh! It's the other way around!"

The other Djinn and two adepts ignore their squabble until a thought popped into Sheba's head.

"Is what you need to remember have anything to do with Hammet?" she asked. Ivan stopped mid step and turned towards her. He stared at her for a bit.

"Hammet…" he repeated. There was an eerie silence. He tilted his head before asking, "Who's Hammet?" Sheba dropped her apple. Those two words hit them like a Golem's Truncheon Fist.

"Ooooooh, damn…" Sheba and the Djinn said together. Ivan's head trauma has apparently given him a certain degree of amnesia. Sheba walks over to Ivan and seats him on the couch, donning a concerned expression. Ivan gave her a puzzled look with his bright violet eyes.

"Sit tight for a sec," She said walking into the kitchen followed by the cluster of Djinni. "Ok, we have an amnesiac in the other room. What to do?"

"I'm confused to how we went a whole week without running into this…predicament…" Breeze commented.

"Bad luck?" Lull wondered. "Or would that be good luck? I can't tell…"

"Mmm, I think it may have been because we've never mentioned anything having to do with stuff prior to coming to Lalivero." Gust suggested. They peered back into the other room. Ivan was still sitting on the couch, twiddling his thumbs.

"That could be it. But this… I just _completely_ did not see this coming…" Sheba said with a hand under her chin. The seven went back into the room where Ivan sat.

"Something wrong, Sheba?" he asked, noticing her worried look as she walked in front of him.

"Lull, do me favor?" Sheba asked, not breaking eye contact with Ivan.

"Ya?" he flew forward and landed on the couch arm next to Ivan.

"I need you to work your magic on Ivan. I want to try something…"

"Uuhhh, okay." Ivan turned to the Djinni, but before he could protest, a flash of purple light erupted from the elemental, causing Ivan to blank out, and slump backwards onto the couch with both eyes still open. Lull also just sat there, like a statue.

"Alright, time for some mind surfing." Sheba said, kneeling down and putting her index and middle fingers of her right hand on his forehead. She closed her eyes as psynergy began to swirl around her.

"What do you think she needed Lull for?" Wheeze asked, followed by another of his trademark coughs.

"I'm guessing she's trying to access his memories by eliminating all thought processes. I think they were discussing something about this when they were in Vault." Kite hypothesized.

"Will that even work?" asked Breeze. Sheba turned around, obviously annoyed .

"Excuse me, but I'm trying to focus. Now all of you, hush!" she turned her attention back to reading Ivan. The Djinn watched silently. After several minutes, Sheba opened her eyes and removed her hand from Ivan's forehead, then sighed.

"What's the diagnosis, doc?" Breeze asked, flying in front of Sheba.

"Good news is that I was able to look into what he _does _remember…" She turned away and stood back up. "He remembers past events. But he seems to have forgotten the identities of people he knew…"

"Huh? Explain pleeeease."

"Well, let's say he remembers that we lit all four lighthouses, but pretty much forgot everyone who participated except me and you guys. I'm confused to why he hasn't forgotten us as well." Aroma flew forward.

"Perhaps it is because of the special bond you two have developed over this time of peace? He could also remember us probably because we were present during the incident."

"Maybe… well, it could have been a _lot _ worse… anyway, we can't really leave Lalivero until he remembers everyone." She got up to leave to her room. This wasn't a totally bad thing. It gave her more time to think about how she should approach Faran.

"Sheba," Wheeze coughs, "where you going?"

"To write a letter. Breeze, come with me."

"Okie dokie!" Breeze sang as he flew upstairs with Sheba. As the two disappeared, Lull, who hadn't moved an inch since he put Ivan out, jolted to attention.

"Huh, what I miss?" he asked. At that point, Ivan broke out of his trance.

--

In the candlelight of her room, Sheba was at her desk writing on a peace of parchment with a quill. Breeze stood on her shoulder, watching every feather stroke.

"What's that for?" he asked.

"It's a letter to Hammet. I believe he expects Ivan to be back any day now, and will be concerned when he doesn't show up. So, I'm writing this to tell him about Ivan's injury and to assure him he need not worry." She explained, finishing her signature on the bottom.

"Ooooh, good thinking." Sheba rolled the letter up and put it in a leather pouch. She then put the pouch's strap over Breeze's head so that the pouch hung at his side just under his left wing. "Uuuuh, what's this for?"

"You know where Kalay is, riiiight?" she asked him with an evil grin.

"Um, yeah I think so…" Breeze grew nervous, something didn't feel right. Her emerald eyes were looking especially sinister.

"Good, now get flying!" and with that, she created a whirlwind that lifted the Djinni up and tossed him out the window. He tumbled through the starry sky for a few seconds before righting himself.

"Sheeesh, annoy the crap out of someone once, and they make you do stuff without asking!" He stuck his tongue out in the direction of Sheba's home and started his journey due…

"Wait… which way was north?" He swirled around. "Ah, whatever, I'll figure it out." He shrugged and flew off into the night.

--

Me: Hmm, I think this ended up a bit differently than I planned.

Breeze: Yeeeeaaaah! I'm finally delivering something! But… against my will?

Me: Hey, you're doin it anyway. Must mean you want to do it to some degree.

Breeze: Hm I guess… Whatever.

Oh yeah, thank you , IsaacGaretMia, for pointing that out. I think my English teacher mentioned the same thing, but I never really fixed that problem when I write… x.x

I'll try to fix it as I go.


	5. Chapter 5 Troubles in Imil

Me: AHHHH Sorry you guys for the lack of updates! Life caught up to me, whacked me with a baseball bat, then left me in the dust. Then when I finally have time... OH NOES what's that in the sky!? It's WRITER'S BLOCK! -smash-

Breeze: Neato your first writer's block moment! Must've been fun

Me: It was NOT. Anyway, here's something for you guys...

--

Chapter 5- Troubles in Imil

The door opens and a rush of icy cold air fills the room. In comes a hooded figure whose coat and dress is decorated with various patterns of blue and lavender and is holding a shining, white staff tipped with an ankh. The figure removes the hood, revealing blue silky hair neatly tied in a ponytail and matching blue eyes. She closes the door behind herself to prevent any further heat from escaping. She walks down the center aisle of the sanctum, the benches on both sides filled with people suffering from bad burns, broken limbs, and other injuries with their families. Those in even the greatest of pain smile at the sight of her.

At the foot of the sanctum's altar lay a teenage boy. Kneeling at his side was a younger girl of about age twelve, with amber hair in pigtails. She was concentrating and reciting a silent prayer, both hands glowing blue, over a bleeding gash in the boy's side. She stopped to catch her breath and the glow faded away.

"Oh no… I can't stop the bleeding." She said, closing her eyes in defeat. Feeling a gloved hand on her shoulder she turned to see the blue-haired girl with eyes as serene as the ocean. "Mia!"

"Don't worry, Megan, I'll handle it." She reassured her, kneeling down beside her. Raising her staff over the boy's wound, she whispers a prayer. A magnificent blue light exudes from the ankh tip and the wound closes up immediately. Megan was in awe of how powerful her healing ability was. Mia turned to Megan with a benevolent smile. "Alright, now we need to wrap it up so it doesn't open again." The girl nods and runs to retrieve some bandages.

The boy opens his eyes and looks at Mia. "Thank you…" he says weakly.

"Now, now, we have to get your injuries dressed. Megan?"

"Yes, Mia?" she returns to the boy's side with a basket of medicated bandages.

"Do you know where Justin is?"

"He went into the forest to retrieve more herbs." She replies, beginning to wrap the boy's wound.

"Ah, I see…" Mia turns and scans the sanctum of people to see if any require assistance. Nope, they all seem fine… for the time being. She sighs, walks to the right of the altar and enters a room emanating blue light. In the center of the room, lay a man of about middle age. Surrounding him, forming a triangle, were three small, blue creatures. Each had glowing yellow eyes and a pink tail with a crab-like claw at the end. The three shone like beacons, enveloping the entire room in brilliant cerulean. One of them turns as Mia approaches.

"Oh! You've returned!" it said.

"Got the Hermes water?" another asked. Mia took a vial out of her pouch. It was filled with clear blue water.

"Yes, but I'm still unsure it will work…" The man looked fine on the surface, but the same cannot be said for his internal condition. She approached the man and poured the water in several places over his body. The liquid glowed for a moment before seeping into him. "If it does, it will help speed up his recovery. I'm sorry that you Djinn have to stay here and keep him alive."

"Hey, we're Mercury Djinn! Water is life. It's what we do!" Mia was so lucky to have such great Djinn companions. They served her well on her journey. The ones who stayed, Fizz, Tonic, and Dew, made excellent healers when Mia and her apprentices were busy. This troubled time has left the three Mercury adepts out of Psynergy on more than one occasion.

"Mia, you're looking worn. Go rest." Dew suggested in a timid voice. The other two nodded in agreement.

"Even so, I cannot rest for long. Someone may need my assistance at any moment" Fizz hopped to turn her body towards Mia.

"True, but you need to take care of yourself. You can't help others if you end up not being able to help yourself!" Mia nods and turns to leave the room. The three Djinn, still glowing turn back to the person they're keeping alive and sigh.

"Mia's been so miserable of late," noted Fizz.

"I would be, too! You release alchemy, come to Imil for a nice visit, only to find things going horribly wrong!" Tonic said angrily. Dew looked down at the man.

"I wonder how much longer this is going to take. This… is horrendously boring!" She lamented. Tonic closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Yes… yes it is, but alas, without our constant psynergy, there's no doubt he'd die. So let's just hope the water works fast."

"Let's just hope it works at all," Fizz added. The three then sighed in unison.

--

Mia enters her quarters and closes the door behind her. She leans back on the door, exhausted. Frustration welling up in her, she turns to hit the door with her fist. The noise echoes throughout her room.

"I cannot believe this!" She grumbles, walking over to her bed to lay down. She closes her eyes and begins to rub her temples, in hopes to relieve some stress. Fizz was right, she _was_ exhausted. She rarely had time to eat or sleep between treating the townspeople and running to Mercury lighthouse to restock on its healing waters. Originally, she had come to Imil for a quiet visit, but ended up with more on her hands than she could barely handle…

Staring at the ceiling, images of her companions begin to pop into her head. How she missed them these past couple months. The images swirled in her head, the heroic Isaac, the quiet Felix, the mysterious Piers, but most of all, Garet. She smiled as she remembered the times she spent with him. He was always so determined, loyal, and had somewhat of a one track mind, but that didn't matter, his heart was always in the right place.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on her door. "Come in!" Her door opens and a boy with blonde hair and a pair of glasses peeks through. He wore robes similar to Megan and Mia, but had thick pants instead of a skirt. He looked to be about thirteen. "Oh, Justin! You've finished collecting herbs?"

"Oh, yes. But I came across something else." He fully entered her room, and in his arms was a block of ice. Out of curiosity, Mia rose from her bed and walked over to him for a closer look. She focused hard on the block and could see a tinge of purple in it. "I found it half buried in the snow…" He rubbed his sleeve over it and it removed the snow to make its contents clearer. "Megan said it was some sort of ugly parrot!" he chuckled.

With the stray snow gone, the interior was completely visible. Mia gasped as she noticed that the purple object inside had two wings, and a long feather crest on its head.

"I know what this!" She quickly grabbed the block of ice and closed her eyes. Justin watched as the ice slowly melted away. The purple creature, drenched in water, shook itself dry and looked around frantically.

"Ah! What? Mia? Where am I? Is this Kaylay?" The two Mercury Adepts looked out the window, where Mercury lighthouse, in all its glory, shined like a star.

"Uhh, sorry, little parrot, but you're waaaaay off!" He pointed out.

"I am _not_ a parrot!" the creature hopped around in Mia's hand until it was facing her, "Tell him, Mia! I'm an all powerful Jupiter Djinni!" Mia was about to open her mouth until Justin blurted out.

"Mia, you know this… erm… Jupiter Djinni?"

"Unfortunately, yes. This obnoxious creature is Breeze." Obnoxious? Breeze wasn't obnoxious, or so he thought. She smiled faintly. "He and many other of his kind gave us the power to complete our journey. Without them, we'd have surely failed." The Djinni nods at her statement.

"Yup yup!" he said, full of pride.

"That's hard to believe…" Justin mumbled.

"Huh, what was that?"

"Oh nothing! So, he's just like Fizz, Tonic and Dew?" he asked, picturing the blue elementals in his head. Mia nods.

"Yes, except Breeze here is of the air element." She then looked up and made a face signifying that she had just remembered something. She put the Djinni down, and excuses herself from her room. Breeze flaps his wings and flies after her. They both enter the next room, where the Mercury Djinn were keeping the man stable. "How is he doing?" Mia asked them.

"He's improving! I think he no longer needs us for now," Tonic answered. He turned around, and saw Breeze hovering at Mia's side. "Well what do ya know! It's Breeze!"

"What's up my blue brethren!" Breeze greeted, landing right in front of them. The other two Mercury Djinn hop over to him.

"Hello Breeze," Dew greeted in her usual quiet voice.

"Been annoying anybody lately?" Fizz teased.

"No, not today anyway…"

Mia approaches the still unconscious man, who's now breathing normally and kneels to the ground. "I'll tend to him now. You three can go rest and catch up with Breeze."

"Alright. Mia, try to relax when you're done?" Mia tends to the man as if she did not hear Fizz's suggestion. The four elementals exit the room and enter Mia's quarters.

"Wow, Mia seems down. What's come over here?" Breeze inquires with a solemn tone. The three Mercury Djinn look at each other, then at Breeze.

"Well, we'll show you." The four go back out and pass Mia into the main area of the sanctum. Once they've fully entered, Breeze was absolutely shocked at what he saw. The mass of people with horrible injuries, and the young Megan running to and fro making sure each of the inhabitants were comfortable. The very room itself seemed to overflow with hopelessness and fear.

"Woah, what happened here? There are so many people hurt…" Breeze never expected to come into a room like this after the four beacons were lit. He started to rock a little, the air stagnant with sadness and despair. Tonic hops beside Breeze and pats Breeze on the back with his clawed tail attempting to comfort him.

"You see, this is what happened…"

--

Breeze: Heeeey... what? That's it? That wasn't anything!

Me: well... I said I had writer's block...-cough- I was planning on making it longer, but at the pace I was going at, I thought I should give ya'll something so you wouldn't think I died or something. Enjoy...

Breeze: I see...


	6. Chapter 6 Mia's Return

I finally got the nerve to continue (no telling how long it'll last!)

Breeze: *taps foot*

Me: what? o__o;

--

Chapter 6- Mia's return.

"We should be almost halfway through," Mia said as she walked through a dark damp cavern. On each shoulder sat a couple of Mercury Djinn who decided to stay after their final battle. Dew was on her left and Fizz on her right. Hopping ahead of them, was a third Mercury Djinni who was emitting a bright blue light to illuminate the otherwise pitch black cave.

"Tonic could you please slow down?" Dew requested timidly.

"Oh, my bad," Tonic apologized as he stopped to allow Mia to catch up.

"Dew, why are you worried? It's not like we couldn't light the cave up ourselves if Tonic lost us somehow." Fizz commented.

"Uh, well… just the thought of us getting separated makes me nervous…" Dew mumbled just loud enough for Mia to hear.

"Dew you mustn't fret over…" she stopped as she caught something on the cave wall in the corner of her eye, "Tonic, stop here for a moment." The blue Djinni turned and hopped over to where Mia was to shed a bit more light. As the light engulfed the wall, what Mia had seen became clear.

It was writing.

The Adept put her hand to the inscriptions, and studied it carefully. The symbols were none she could recognize, as if it was some strange lost language. She turned and saw that nearly the entire wall on the other side of the tunnel was covered in them as well. The symbols ranged from what seemed to be words to strange pictures reminiscent of battle plans.

"Oh my… what does it say?" Dew asked nervously.

"Hmm, who would actually come down here and write all this?" Fizz asked. Mia seemed not to have heard her blue companions' questions as she walked along the walls looking at the writings. She stopped as she saw an illustration. It wasn't just any illustration; it was one of the Mercury lighthouse. Just below it, she saw another drawing. It was of a town with crudely drawn houses… and it was being attacked by little human-shaped drawings wielding fire.

Mia instantly grew uneasy. She sensed something was very wrong or was going to become wrong very soon.

"I think we better keep on our way," Mia suggested trying to keep cool. The Djinn looked at each other. They sensed Mia's unrest but opted not to say anything.

--

Within an hour or so, the quartet emerged from the damp cavern that divided the two regions in which Imil and Bilibin resided. From the get go, Mia felt the chill wind caress her pale skin and she closed her eyes and took a deep, refreshing breath. Before she had left home, she never thought she'd miss the cold winds of Imil so much. When she opened her eyes again, she could see the magnificent glow of Mercury lighthouse across the northern gulf of Angara. It was clear that its power was already being felt at such a distance by how the Mercury Djinn seemed to have become reenergized.

They'd be back in Imil within two or three days, pending on Jupiter's mood on the way. A passing snowstorm could slow one down considerably in this region. After a while, the three Djinn decided to remain within Mia's body to provide her extra endurance for the long trek. They all remained silent, but it had to be asked.

_Mia, what seems to be the matter?_ Fizz asked, her voice echoing in Mia's head. The adept's anxiousness was bothering the blue beings, since they were deeply in tune with the emotions of their carrier. Mia's pace was also very brisk and she was already utilizing the extra energy the little elementals have been providing her to trudge through the snow.

"It was just those inscriptions back in the cave," she responded, "I just have a bad feeling."

_Ah… I bet it's nothing but some of those weird gnome mages scribbling spells in the cave. You probably shouldn't worry! _Tonic reassured her.

"Hm, you are probably right…" Mia slowed her paced, but quickly sped back up, "but the sooner we get there, the sooner I can be at ease."

As she walked through the snow covered forests she began thinking of Megan and Justin, the youngest of the four, well, three remaining Mercury adepts from Imil. It's been so long since she'd seen them, and they both sounded older when she spoke with them atop Mars lighthouse. It was mostly Justin, though, because she had heard his voice crack. At their ages children tend to grow quite a bit in such a short time.

Then she remembered the old couple who lived near the entrance. She was very close to them and also missed them dearly. Suddenly without any provocation, the image of a tall lad with spiky, red hair and a large goofy smile on his face flashed in her mind.

"Wow, I miss him already," she sighed. It had only been a little while since she had been in Vault. Garet tried his hardest to convince her not to go, but she ended up convincing _him_ that she needed to see everyone in Imil again. She thought about how he would always tell her not to worry whenever things made her nervous, even though he'd tend to be more nervous than any of them.

_Aw, Mia… Don't fret. You did promise Garet that you were going to return to Vault! _Tonic blurted out.

Yes, that was right. She did promise, but the truth is she felt incredibly torn when she said this. At this point, she wished she could be in two places at once to put these feelings to rest.

--

After a day of walking through dense trees, Mia could see the edge of the forest.

"Finally, we are almost…" she stopped mid sentence as horror overcame her. She saw her beloved Imil… almost completely destroyed. Smoke was rising from several buildings and the front gate was strewn across places it obviously should not be.

"Damn…" Tonic said under his breath as he materialized on Mia's shoulder.

Mia darted through the thick snow, praying everyone was alright. It ran through her mind, how could this have happened? Who could have done this? _Why_ have they done this? Then she remembered the writing and drawings in the cave. This was definitely related to what she saw.

She had finally entered the town. She stopped and gazed around, there was not a soul stirring. She began to sprint, but she heard a moan under some debris. Focusing on the mass of splinters and stone, her body flashed with Psynergy and the debris was lifted from its resting place to reveal a wounded man. Mia carefully pulled him from under the trash, trying to stay focused to keep it from falling back on top of them.

"There," she said panting and letting the wood and stone crash back down, "are you alright?" The man was breathing, but he did not answer. He was badly bruised and was covered in cuts. Mia brought both her hands to his chest, and focused once more, this time uttering something under her breath. Her hands emitted an angelic blue glow, and the man's wounds healed near instantly.

"Wh-what's happening… Mia!" he exclaimed as he came to. Mia recognized him as one of the watchmen. "Thank the gods you have returned!"

"Tell me what's happened?"

"I… I don't know exactly…" he said, putting a hand to his still aching head, "all I remember is standing watch with a couple other guards, then suddenly, a fireball flew out of nowhere, blasting that junk on top of me!" He looked at her apologetically. "That's all I remember… I don't even know how long I've been out…"

"I see…" Mia nodded. Before another word was said, the earth trembled beneath them and a puff of smoke rose around the base of the lighthouse. Whoever, or whatever, did this was definitely there. She stood up and took her Ankh from out of the strap used to carry it on her back. "Dew, Tonic, you two go with the guard and help anyone who needs it" she commanded as all the Djinni exited her body, "Fizz, come with me." The Djinni nodded and warped back into Mia, and she darted off in the direction of the lighthouse.

"Alright then, let's go help the injured," Tonic yelled, raising her clawed tail in the air. Dew nodded, but the guard just stared at them, wondering what the hell they were.

"Uhm, hello sir…" Dew greeted quietly.

"Hey, we don't bite, come on! We got people to tend to!" The man nodded to Tonic's statement, rose to his feet, and ran off with the elementals on his tail.

--

Mia was breathing heavily as she trudged through the white with Fizz on her shoulder and stopped as she came across the old couple's house… or what was left of it. It was completely obliterated.

"Oh no… no no no…" she panicked as she ran to the shambles, "Grandma! Grandpa!" she yelled, hoping one would answer from under the debris. It was silent. They both scanned the area, searching for any signs of life. Mia was about to yell out again, but Fizz cut her off.

"Mia, I don't sense anybody under there. Living or otherwise…"

Mia sighed. There still might be hope.

"Hey I heard something over here!" yelled a voice that sounded diminutive and obnoxious.

The duo froze as they heard it again coming from behind some still standing houses. Two small beings, nearly half the height of Mia herself, clad in blue with matching wizard caps ran into the open. They just stood there, instantly recognizing them as gnomes.

"Look! We missed one!" the other one blurted out as it pulled out a small staff tipped with a purple gem. "Let's finish this lass before we rejoin with the others!"

"There's _more _of them?" Fizz asked in disbelief, "oh gods, Tonic was right about the gnome thing…"

One of the gnomes began to glow as lightning erupted from his staff and traveled in Mia's direction. She jumped out of the way only to see fire from the other gnome blaze across the ground towards her! With a wave of her ankh, water blasted from the ground in front of her, engulfing the fire and covering the area in a blanket of steam.

"Oye! The lass must be an adept!" one yelled to its partner through the steam.

"Let's off her befo- Aaaagh!!" the other gnome yelped. The steam cleared quickly and the gnome's eyes widened as he saw his partner covered in ice, petrified with an expression of surprise on his face still.

"Dammit!" he yelled. He quickly turned around. In a flash of blue, he was struck upside the head with an ankh and sent hurdling towards the nearby wall. He wiped the blood from his mouth and looked up to see the Mercury adept with her eyes closed and her arms raised. Above her was a large boulder of ice so transparent, the light was refracted into several rainbows. He was too captivated by its light to see the blue haired girl throw her arms forward, sending the boulder straight on top of him.

Crash!

--

Shrieks of fear echoed at the base of the lighthouse. The remaining people of Imil were huddled together in front of the entrance with the entire structure encircled by a myriad of cackling gnomes.

"Justin! We need another one!" cried a girl with pigtails.

"Alright!" replied a young blonde boy with glasses. He closed his eyes as Psynergy surged through him and a wall of ice rose between the people and the mass of gnome assailants.

"Bwehehehe," cackled one of the gnomes, "the lad still thinks his barriers of frozen water can stop us!" He and a few other gnomes simultaneously swung their staffs, firing lightning at the wall and shattering it instantly.

"I… can't keep this up…" Justin muttered as he fell to his knees. The girl concentrates, forming a large orb of water in front of her, and throws it forward at the gnomes at a high velocity. One of them simply tapped his staff on the ground and an orange light surrounding them blocked the water and dissipated it into nothing. "They're taking everything we're throwing at them, Megan!" The girl stepped back beside two spear wielding men, who were the last two guards still conscious.

"Come, brothers, let us finish off this dreary lot in one fell swoop!" The hundreds of gnomes all raised their staffs, combining their Psynergy. Fire began to swirl above them and formed a humongous orb of impending destruction, lighting up the entire sky.. "With this, we destroy the last of Lighthouse's defenses and claim it as our own!" The gnomes all cheered in unison, sure of their victory. The two Mercury adepts looked at the ball of fire in awe then closed their eyes, fearing what comes next.

"I wish Mia was here!" Megan screamed tears running down her cheeks. Suddenly, numerous blasts of blue light flew over the gnomes and straight through their massive ball of fire. The fire throbbed before bursting into nothingness.

"What sorcery is this!?" the gnomes yelled, turning towards where the blasts had come from. What they saw was a blue haired girl in thick robes carrying an ankh. A blue creature suddenly materialized on her shoulder as well.

"Mia!" the two young adepts yelled. It was silent for a few moments. Mia scanned her surroundings. The land clearly showed signs of battle with patches of burned land and melted snow with a few out of place shards of ice. The army of gnomes obviously stood out the most to her. One of them stepped forward.

"You dare challenge us?!" a cocky gnome yelled. He raised his arms and shrugged, encouraging the others to cheer him on, which they did. "You have no hope in matching the power of any one of us, let alone _all_ of us" Mia narrowed her eyes at the gnome's audacity. Her hand trembled as she slowly raised it with the palm and fingers facing upwards.

Shing!

The gnomes jumped backwards as a spire of ice literally skewered their overly confident comrade from below and lifted his limp body high so that all of his kind could see it.

"Wow…" Justin uttered. Even with the power boost from being in such close proximity with the lighthouse, neither of the two apprentices could cast an attack as easily as Mia just did.

The mass of short beings began to mutter amongst one another then suddenly grew quiet. The sea of blue clad wizards parted, creating an aisle between them. An elderly looking gnome with a long white beard and a hunched back began walking down the aisle towards Mia with the aid of a crooked old staff. He stopped and looked at the ice spire that held the motionless gnome then turned towards the girl, who kept a serious and fearless expression.

"What is the meaning of this?" Mia began, "why have you attacked our home?"

"Ah… you see, dear child…" the old gnome said as he began to stroke his beard, "As the village that guards the Lighthouse of Mercury, it presents itself as an obstacle in our new quest for power and dominance over Weyard!" He raised his hands. "As such it must be eliminated." Mia grew angrier. Just a power hungry bunch of trash threatening the safety of innocents it seemed. Dealing with such was not what she wanted to do after her tiring journey.

"Really now… As far as I know, you gnomes have existed without such ambitions. What reason do you have to suddenly start this 'conquest?'" she asked, crossing her arms. The old gnome, whom Mia had discerned as the leader at this point, continued to stroke his beard.

"If you may not have noticed, but in months prior, we have seen the four lights converge in the sky and the Golden Sun take its form from the view of our mountain homes." He gestured toward the sky with his staff. "Our ancient prophecies have told that the rising of the Golden Sun marks the reawakening of alchemy…"

Mia's eyes widened. She turned to her Djinni companion, who was as deeply confused as she was. She turned back to the decrepit gnome, her curious look hinting at him to continue.

"It has been written, that our ancestors were a force to be reckoned with. We have once ruled many lands with our control over alchemy. But when alchemy was sealed away, our ancestors lost most of their magics… and our kind was forced to be associated with mere monsters and cave vermin."

"Mia… I don't like where this is going. I'm going to the aerie of the lighthouse." Fizz whispered.

"What, why?"

"I have a plan…" with that, the Mercury Djinni turned to a ball of light and floated straight towards the top of the lighthouse. The gnomes did not take notice of this, so Mia decided to continue with the old geezer.

"My companions and I have dealt with your kind before. Needless to say, they were easily cast aside." She said bluntly. The old gnome chuckled, which halfway sounded like coughing.

"Really now?" he mimicked Mia's earlier words. He tapped his staff on the ground, and the sky rumbled and darkened. She turned to the sky, and a blast of lightning shot from above her. She quickly dodged out the way, but the impact of the bolt with the ground caused an explosion that made her loose her balance. She shrieked as she rolled on the ground.

"Gnomes were never this powerful… how could the awakening of alchemy have increased their power so much in so little time?" Mia pondered as she rose to her feet, covered in cold, half-melted snow. The elderly gnome chuckled while his minions just stood and watched.

"I gather you are wondering how we could attain such strength when we were so… how you say… 'easily cast aside' not long ago?" he began to walk slowly. "Dear girl, when alchemy was unleashed, all of our ancient manuscripts, enchanted runes, and every magical knickknack and whatnot that we held on to from our ancestors regained their powers." He swung his staff and threw a quick fireball at Mia. She easily deflected it with her ankh and took a more battle ready position. It seemed he wanted to boast his strength as he lectured. "Instantly, we took the opportunity to relearn what we have once lost."

He tapped his staff on the ground again and the earth beneath Mia's feet began to tremble. She looked down and immediately noticed it bulging upwards and leapt backwards before a spout of lava erupted from the spot. As she landed she placed a hand on the ground and concentrated her own Psynergy, causing a wave of icicles to erupt beneath the gnome elder. Before he was impaled he vanished in a flash and appeared behind the adept. Startled, she tried to strike him with her ankh, but he teleported again to a farther position.

"This is but a fraction of our strength. With time, we and our brothers and sisters from all over Weyard will regain our strength, and take back what is rightfully ours!"

Mia was sweating bullets now. This old wizard was definitely powerful, and the fact he has more unlocked potential scared her. She turned back to her shambled village and a wave of guilt overcame her. Tears began to form in her eyes when she realized that what she did to save the world has led to the destruction of her home town.

"I have told you what you I feel you needed to know," the old gnome said, "now I must dispose of you so that we may continue our conquest of the lighthouse." He raised his staff and began chanting in an unknown language. Red light converged before him, then shot towards Mia! There was no way she could dodge a blast at that speed. She braced herself for the attack.

Before it reached her a massive beam of light shot from the aerie of the lighthouse and negated the red blast in a flash of radiant, blue light.

"What…what is the meaning of this!" the old gnome exclaimed, now looking exhausted from his constant spell casting. All eyes looked towards the aerie. Mia stared at the beacon for a few seconds before spotting another faint blue light that seemed to be siphoning Psynergy from the lighthouse.

"Fizz?" she muttered trying to focus more on the light. Suddenly, the faint glow fired another beam straight at the mass of gnomes. The creatures hollered as the beam struck the ground, causing it to explode in a mass of crystalline pillars. The elder gnome began chanting again, causing a barrier to appear over his minions, but the next beam simply shattered it as if it were nothing.

"Elder, elder! What do we do!" one of the gnomes yelped as the army began to panic. The beams kept coming and wiped out groups of them with ease.

"We…must… retreat… for now," he replied panting and barely able to stand, "the lighthouse and the elementals are on their side…" When he finally stood he chanted another spell, causing all gnomes who have not been destroyed already to teleport away. The townspeople cheered now that the gnome army was deterred.

"Mia!" her two apprentices called out to her as they ran. They both jumped to hug her, knocking her over on her back.

"Ooof! You guys are getting too big to be doing this at the same time!" she teased before hugging them back. The glow from the aerie lofted to Mia's side and reformed back into a Mercury Djinni. "Fizz that was amazing!"

"Y-yeah…" she huffed, "takes a lot out of me, though…" The Djinni looked truly exhausted.

"You can rest now," Mia smiled. The Djinni nodded, then faded away.

"Wait, Mia, is Fizz…" Megan asked as Fizzed vanished.

"No, she will be back. She's just recovering," Mia looked around and saw what the attack of gnomes had done to the people of Imil. "It seems we have a lot of recovering to do ourselves." Justin and Megan looked at the people as well and nodded. The blue haired adept sighed, now realizing she won't be seeing her friends for quite a while.

--

"And that's what went down," concluded Tonic.

"Dang… Intense," Breeze replied, shocked by the turn of events.

"Intense indeed…" Fizz added, nodding.

Breeze looked at the injured townspeople and grew even more depressed, so he decided to go back in the room with Mia. When he flew in, Mia had finished healing and the man was already exiting to rejoin his family.

"Phew, all the serious cases are done, now to make som-"

"You mean _relax_? They did tell you rest after this." Breeze interjected, plopping himself on her shoulder.

"Uh, heh, yes" she said, embarrassed that she was caught being a total workaholic again. "Anyway, what brings you to Imil anyhow, Breeze?" She sat on the edge of her bed, ready to listen. Breeze looked into her eyes. Even while exhausted, Mia was beautifully serene.

"Well, I was _supposed _to be going to Kaylay…"

"But you ended up… here?" she tilted her head curiously.

"Uhm, yes… apparently" he blushed.

"So… why did you need to go to Kaylay then?"

"To deliver this letter!" he fumbled in the pouch slung around him and pulled out a folded letter with his wings. Mia took it, unfolded it, and started reading:

--

_Dear Master Hammet and Lady Layana_

_At the time of writing this, Ivan and I have safely arrived in Lalivero. Unfortunately, due to an unfortunate turn of events, Ivan has been injured and seems to have lost his memory. I am attempting to remedy the predicament, so the time we will return is still pending._

_Sincerely, Sheba_

_P.S. About the creature this message (hopefully) arrived with, please send your reply with him, and if possible, point him in the right direction of Lalivero because quite frankly, said creature cannot navigate for beans._

--

"Ah… poor Ivan," Mia lamented, "but at least he is in good hands."

"What does she mean 'can't navigate for beans?!'" Breeze hollered, feeling insulted.

"You ended up here instead of Kaylay _does _say something…" Mia said bluntly.

"Hmph" the Djinni frowned. It was rather interesting, though. The letter said 'we will return…"

"Well, I think I may have map you can use to help you get to Kaylay. This letter is rather important, so you should leave tomorrow after you rest." Mia got up from the bed and began to search. Then she got an idea. "Breeze, can… I ask you for a favor?"

"Pending. What be this favor?" he asked rather obnoxiously, but Mia seemed unbothered.

"Well… I…" She looked away and put her hands behind her back, then blushed a bit, "I want you to deliver a letter to Garet on your way." The purple Djinni blinked.

"Um, sure thing…" When he said this, Mia's face lit up.

"Thank you!" she gave the Djinni a hug, grabbed paper and quill, and ran into her room. The Mercury Djinn hopped into the room and wondered why Mia had run off.

"Hey, what's going on?" Dew asked.

"Eh… the things I do for love…" Breeze sighed, falling over backwards onto his back.

--

Several hours into the night the Sanctum grew quiet. Families huddled to keep each other warm as mothers sang to their children to help them sleep. Justin and Megan opted to sleep on the church pews, just in case anyone needed them during the night. In Mia's candlelit room, the four Djinn slept huddled on top of each other in a collage of blues and purple at the foot of Mia's bed. As usual, Mia was not in it.

She was at her desk, and she had passed out from exhaustion and slept with her writing utensil in hand. She jerked awake when she heard a knock on the door.

"Huh," she glanced around, noticing her candle was already almost out of wax, "oh dear…c-come in" she said after realizing she had fallen asleep. Her door opened and a kindly old woman hobbled in with aid of her cane. "Oh, hello Grandma," Mia greeted.

"Hello Mia. I'm sorry to bother you at this hour," she apologized.

"No, not at all, Grandma." The woman was not her biological grandmother, nor was her husband Mia's grandfather. It was what she and her two apprentices had called them due to the fact the couple took them in after their parents had passed. Even when they decided to live at the Sanctum, the loving woman would bring them warm meals every day. Mia made sure to take extra care of them as they got on in years.

"Just coming to check up on you, child," she said, a smile appearing on her wrinkled face, "I'm disappointed to find you still up at this time. You cannot expect yourself to work all hours of the day," she said lovingly, even though Mia sensed a bit of scolding in the statement.

"Well, actually, I was sleeping a moment ago because I passed while writing a letter," Mia said embarrassed a little.

"See, that's not a good sign." The woman slowly walked to Mia's side. "So to whom are you sending this letter?"

"Ah well…" Mia looked at what she had done. The current letter had only a few lines, but her desk was littered with numerous balled up drafts that she had written prior. Her grandmother glanced at her workplace and smiled. "Just writing to a friend… a guy, back in Vault," Mia continued. The woman's face lit up with intrigue.

"Oh! Do tell me more of this lad," she pleaded as she took a seat in a chair not far from where she was standing, "he must be something special for you to need to start your message over that many times." Mia blushed.

"U-uhm well," she turned away to hide the heat in her face and saw the pile of Djinn on her bed. Fizz was sleeping on top, then suddenly rolled off and was snoozing on her own. She turned back to her current letter and gasped when she saw it was gone! She looked at the floor to see if it had fallen, but saw her grandmother with her reading spectacles on going through her letter! "No! I-I'm not done yet!"

"Mmhm…" the old woman hummed, "I didn't take you to be the type who'd _lie_ in a letter," she chuckled. The blue haired adept dropped her head in shame. Busted. "What is with this 'I have decided to stay in Imil a while because my dear grandmother has broken her hip' nonsense?" she asked, tapping her hip lightly with her cane to show that it was still in good shape.

"Well, in my defense, I didn't want him to worry about me. Even though he's kind of big, he's a big softy," Mia said, closing her eyes. "I planned on telling him from the start, but knowing him, he'd worry his head off and rush up over here."

"That would be a bad thing?"

"No… but we have just completed our long journey, and I think my friends deserve some rest."

"Don't you think you deserve that same luxury?" Mia froze at her grandmother's question. "Well, anyway, which one is this 'Garet' that you are writing this letter to?" She attempted to change the subject when she reread the top of the letter.

"The tall, spiky redhead," Mia answered somewhat dreamily.

"Oh! I remember! That one had quite the caboose on him!"

"_Grandma_!" Mia exclaimed in shock.

"Hehehe, good night, child," she chuckled, returning Mia's letter and hugging her before hobbling out of the room. She stopped and turned around, "and for the love of Mercury, _get some sleep_."

"Geez… everyone is just on my case today…" she mumbled, returning to her letter.

--

Whoo~ hope you enjoyed! I don't have much to say except that I'm glad I got out of the rut I was in!

Breeze: NUUU Hardly any lines AGAIN? I bet you're totally gonna write me out of the story soon.

Me: Nooooo… The title's got your name, plus you're the comedic relief. We can't go on without you o3o

Breeze: suuuure whatever…


	7. Chapter 7 Ponderings of the Wind

Long time no see, all. More apologies are due for taking so long to update. It took me a long time to get this part written out. I'm not wholly satisfied with it, but hey, I can always make modifications later. Enjoy!

---

Chapter 7- Ponderings of the Wind

"No… it can't be…" Mia looked around her, tears streaming down her eyes. The sky was black with smoke, and the snow stained red with blood. Flames danced all around feeding on everything that she loved. She had failed… failed to save her home from the assault. Everyone was gone, and there was nothing she could do about it. She could hear the lost souls cry in pain, and she was powerless to do anything.

Mia fell to her knees and threw her head into her hands and cried.

_Now do you see? _

Mia rose to attention, and looked around to find the source of that mysterious voice. "What?" she murmured, contemplating what she was supposed to "see."

_It is exactly this that I was trying to prevent. Alchemy was sealed away for this reason._

She looked upwards and saw a large gray stone floating above her. The stone began to descend until it was at eye level with Mia. She stared at the boulder as it hovered above the ground. An eye then opened at its center.

_It is your fault… you and your companions. I foretold that Alchemy would be used for such purposes, and lead to the destruction of Weyard._

The apparition was right… They were warned back on the aerie of Mars Lighthouse. It was their fault… Mia's fault… that the people of Imil were lost.

_Your fault… your fault… your fault…_

The creature's powerful voice echoed. Mia covered her ears trying to drown out his voice, but it was futile. Have she and her friends made the wrong choice? Was releasing alchemy leading Weyard to destruction?

_Mia, you alright? _

She heard another voice. This one was different , though. It lacked the presence of the boulder's voice and was of a higher, friendlier pitch. Suddenly a flying purple creature appeared in a violet burst of light in front of Mia.

"Breeze?" Mia said, surprised to see him. He twirled around, scanning the dark area of enflamed buildings and destruction. He stopped when he had come face to face with the one-eyed rock creature.

"Eh? The Wise one?" he said curiously, "what are you doing dreaming about _him?_"

"Dreaming?" Mia asked, "I'm dreaming about all this?"

"Mhm. You were crying in your sleep, so I thought I'd drop in to see what was up." With that said, everything blurred out.

---

Mia awoke abruptly, her eyes a little puffy. It was that nightmare again. That was probably the fifth time she's had it. She was still at the desk in her room. She looked down and saw the letter she was writing to Garet. She was relieved to see it was finished, and her tears had not smeared any of the writing. A little off to the side, staring out the window, sat the Jupiter Djinni that appeared in her dreams.

"Ah, Breeze… thanks for getting me out of that nightmare," she said with a smile.

"No problem, but I have to say, you're too hard on yourself," he said rather bluntly.

"What?"

"The wise one in your nightmare…" he continued, "you are feeling too guilty about what happened. You and everyone else know very well that you did what you did to prevent the inevitable doom of the world."

"You… You're right," Mia nodded, wiping her face, "it's just… we've lost so many to that attack-"

"Mia, you can't save everyone."

"But you already know I'll always try," she countered quickly.

"Well… yeah, that's because you're awesome like that," he looked at her cheerfully, "but don't drown yourself in guilt for things that are clearly not your fault." His words made her feel much better and she gave the elemental a little hug, although it did seem a little out of character for him.

"Thanks, Breeze."After releasing him, she looked out the window. It was still dark but she could hear the howling wind and see the snow blowing by forcefully. "Hopefully the blizzard will let up in the morning. Don't want you to have to fly in this kind of weather."

"I have a good feeling it'll be clearer in the morn." Mia glanced at the Djinni who had suddenly become quiet.

"What are you thinking about?" she inquired, snapping him out of his trance.

"Oh. Um. Just… stuff."

"Care to narrow it down?" Mia smiled.

"Well, we Jupiter Djinni are the embodiment of all principles of the wind. As such, we represent time, perception, thought, dreams, emotion, and all that good stuff," he said, still staring out of the window. Mia nodded and prompted him to continue. "Emotion; Anger, sadness, guilt, those are pretty easy for me to understand.

"I guess," Mia said. She was trying to figure out what he was getting at.

"But there is one that gets me. Love."

"Ah…"

"Aroma seems to know a lot about it. Hanging out with that matchmaker gave her some insight, I'm guessing. The others don't seem to care too much, though."

"Never took you for the contemplative type!" Mia teased, putting a hand to her hip.

"I'll have you know that I have a very thoughtful mind under all this!" he said, tapping his head with a wing. "I'm always trying to decipher the mysteries of Weyard."

"Heh, I bet," she said with a hint of sarcasm. "Anyway, continue?"

Breeze cleared his throat and turned back to the window. "There seem to be different kinds. There's the kind of love where you care for and want the best for others. Like how all of you guys care for each other in the group. But then there's the _other _kind where a couple share a unique bond. Let's take… you and Garet for example. You seem to 'love' him in this way, right?"

"Well," she hesitated before taking a deep breath and blushing, "yes. I do love him." Breeze just chuckled.

"That's what I don't understand."

"Huh?"

"Why do you love him?" he asked turning his head. Mia crossed her arms, and looked away out the window.

"It's… complicated. Love always is. I can't really explain too well without going into a back story," she answered.

"Don't worry, I got time," Breeze said cheerfully. Mia sighed as she started to gather her thoughts. Breeze waited eagerly.

"As the healer of Imil, you can say that I've gained a standing that no other individual could hold. I was respected, but it didn't do much for my social life."

"So you were kind of lonely?" he interjected. She glanced at the elemental then back out the window.

"Lonely? Hard to say. My job kind of pulled me more towards older people and small children. I've never really had the opportunity to mingle with others my age. Plus, many in town thought of me as an angel! I guess… I never really got close to any guys my age because they thought of me as 'forbidden ground,'" She giggled, "that's always left me longing for something. I never could completely figure it out at the time even though one of my many duties was to perform the marriage rituals. But when I left with Garet, Isaac, and Ivan, it was completely different."

"How so?" Breeze chirped.

"We were basically the same. We all were adepts. They never saw me in the same way the villagers did, so you can say I had a feeling of belonging with them. I think I can say they were my first true friends," Mia said, with a bright smile.

"I see, but that doesn't do much to answer my question," the Djinni interjected, "I mean, why him? He's so… you know, clumsy and oafish. He's not the brightest torch in the corridor either. I personally think Isaac and Ivan would have been better boyfriends."

"Eh?" Mia was somewhat surprised at what the elemental said. "There's a lot more to it than that! And you didn't let me finish," she said, pulling a chair closer to the window. "You see, right from the beginning Garet was always warm and friendly towards me. And even when I'm pretty sure he didn't mean to, he made me laugh. But I think the biggest thing is that we more or less shared something in common."

"Shared what?" Breeze said, trying to recall something like that. "Tell me more!" As he said that, the snow seemed to let up and the sun's rays began to shine through the window accompanied with the glimmer of Mercury Lighthouse.

"Oh, look, it's morning. Shouldn't it be about time you get going?" her tone suddenly becoming more cheery.

"Huh? But what about our talk?!" he said, flustered.

"I have to start with my morning rounds. I'll tell you more if and when you return after delivering your letters." Mia stood up and started towards the door. Before exiting completely she stopped and looked at Breeze. "Or better yet, you could ask Garet!" she teased. Before he could say anything, Mia was already gone to tend to the people of Imil. The trio of Mercury Djinn soon stirred from their slumber. Tonic yawned before hopping over to Breeze from the bed.

"Mornin', Breeze, what've you been up to?"

"Getting cheated out of a story," he responded blandly and in an agitated tone. The Mercury Djinni changed his expression in a way equivalent to raising an eyebrow.

"Um, okay?"

---

"Okay, Breeze, don't be a stranger now," said Fizz, "make sure to come back sometime!"

"Was great to see you again," Tonic added.

"Make sure to say 'hi' to Flower for me if you see her!" said Dew.

The four Djinn were standing near the sanctum's entrance. The three water Djinn were seeing their purple friend off on his return trip. Breeze nodded happily and raised a wing.

"Okie dokie! I'll see you all later my soggy friends!" he said before jumping into the air and riding the wind into the snowy, white sky. The water elementals watched and waved with their tails as the purple dot began to disappear into the distance.

"Did he call us soggy?" Fizz asked, turning to her kin.

"Yep," replied the other two. Fizz turned her attention back to Breeze who was drawing farther and farther away.

"Mhm…" Fizz hummed as the Djinni disappeared from sight, "Was so nice to see him again."

"Yep."

Fizz sighed, took a deep breath. "Aaaaand… he's going the wrong way."

"Yep."

---

The sun was now at the peak of its ascent, signaling noon. Breeze had been flying a few hours now, but he has made good time because the wind was blowing in the right direction… or at least what he _thinks_ is the right direction. He was flying rather carefree, but he still couldn't get what Mia had said out of his head.

"Shared something, hmm," he repeated to himself. "What could she have possibly meant?" He shook his head from side to side to try to forget about it and keep his focus on where he was going. After all, directions weren't his strong point. "Okaaay, I remember this mountain range, I think, so I just keep heading forward and I should be nearing Vault. Easy!" Just as he said that, he saw something glow briefly in the distance. "Huh? What's that?"

A huge gust of wind suddenly blew past him and causing him to spin near uncontrollably. When stopped, he frantically glanced around to get his bearings. He spun so much, he actually forgot which direction he was heading!

"Aw, what!? Stupid wind!" he yelled as he realized he lost his bearings again. "And I was doing so well, too…" he said with his headed hanging low.

_Who are ya calling stupid?!_

Breeze froze as the gust that spun him around responded back to him in a familiar voice. The wind began to turn around and swirl before forming another Djinni that was completely identical to Breeze. "Ah, Gale! Nice to see you!"

"Indeed, it's been a while!" he said as he fluttered closer. "I thought you were hanging with Ivan?"

"I was, but I am being forced against my will to play messenger pigeon."

"Sheba?"

"Sheba…" Breeze said sullenly. "Anyway, what have you been up to?"

"Nothing much, just blowing here and there."

"Sounds… boring," Breeze commented blandly.

"Not at all! I rather enjoy the quiet," Gale smiled. Breeze sighed. Gale was never really a social Djinni. That was the main reason he decided to fly off instead of staying with the adepts. "So where are you headed?" Gale finally asked.

"I'm _supposed_ to be heading to Kalay, but a freaking snowstorm put me out of commission for I don't know how long and I ended up in Imil."

Gale tilted his head. "Imil? Wasn't that where Mia lived?"

"Yeah, she was there and she asked me to send a message to Garet in Vault."

"Ah." They both hovered there in a silence for a bit with Breeze donning a pleading expression. "Uh, you need help?"

"Oh, you are so kind!" Breeze was about to hand over one of the letters from his pouch before the other Djinni stopped him.

"Hold up, I don't do cargo."

"But I thought you wanted to help!" Breeze whined.

"I do, but I'm not going to do your work for you," Gale replied smugly.

"Phooey!" Breeze huffed.

"However, I do see that you are lost, so I'll help you to Vault."

Breeze seemed annoyed, "well, it _was _your fault! I was doing perfectly fine before you cut me off with your sky speeding!"

"Uh huh… It seemed to me that you were heading towards Bilibin."

"That's, like, right next to Vault, right?" Breeze asked with an oblivious smile.

"Oh Gods…" Gale lamented as he started in the right direction.

"What?" Breeze spun around and darted after him, "you telling me it's not?"

--

The sky was once again clear and the sun shone brightly. A plain looking bird covered in dark feathers was soaring in search of food. It scanned its surroundings, which was littered with many houses both finished and in progress. It kept looking. "Oh joy!" thought the bird as it saw a plate with scrumptious earth worms sitting in the second floor window of a nearby house. It measured the distance and trajectory and swooped in at top speed. Closer and closer it dived toward its noon meal. Closer and closer it drew.

Wham! Some invisible obstacle stopped the bird abruptly, and painfully. It stayed stuck to the barrier for a second before slowly slipping off and falling into a bush.

"Oh my gods! I got another one!" yelled a voice with triumphant, uncontrollable laughter.

"You're _horrible_, you know that?"

Hopping next to the plate of crawling worms was an armless, orange, and yellow creature with large blue eyes and a tail that resembled a flame. "Oh come on, you can't tell me that isn't the least bit funny?" Another similar creature hopped onto the windowsill with an angry look on its face.

"_No_. You're here luring birds to knock themselves out on Garet's window!" she scolded.

"Oh blah, they are just birds," the other creature said dismissively. He donned a happy expression. "Isn't this new window cleaning stuff totally awesome! It's like the birds can't see it or something!" His companion rolled her eyes.

"If they could see it, they wouldn't be ramming into the glass at full speed. Forge, you're going to end up making some trouble that's going to put your fiery butt in hot wa-"

"Oh look! It's another one hiiide!" Forge yelled before tackling his kin out of view of the window.

"Ow, that hurt!"

"Ember, shut it!" Forge peeked over the sill and saw the bird that was swooping in at increasing speed. It looked purple. "Here it comes!"

Shatter! Thump! Wham!

"Holy shit! That was a big-un!" he yelled in enthusiasm after the purple bird burst through the window, bounced off the floor, and rammed into a bookcase, causing an entire book series to bury it. Ember just stood there in shock. Forge hopped over to the pile of books and looked for any motion. "I think I killed it," he giggled. Just then, the pile stirred and a lavender-feathered Djinni poked its head out.

"Wooooah, what happened?" it said woozily.

"Breeze?!" the two orange elementals yelled in surprise.

"Oh, heeeey," he said while rocking his head in a daze, "Anybody… like… see wut hit me?"

"It was more like what _you _hit…" said Ember with her eyes shifting towards Forge. He could barely keep himself from busting out laughing again. Another Jupiter Djinni swooped in and landed on the windowsill.

"Breeze! Why'd you swoop off like that. We were in the middle of such a riveting convo- damn, what happened here!?" he said as he eyed the broken glass and pile of books.

"Ooooh hi, guyz! Gale, when did Gasp and Luff get here?" Breeze answered woozily, "Oh, an' can one of yoooo four Mars Djinn gives me a pillow? I has a headache." He twirled around and fell over unconscious with his tongue sticking out.

"See? Now you went and hurt Breeze," Ember chastised.

"Okay, okay, I'll stop teasing birds now… but that was still the best thing that happened all week!" Forge said laughing again. The three elementals started hearing footsteps getting louder and coming up the staircase outside. The door swung open and a tall young man with red, spiky hair entered with a worried look.

"Guys, what the hell was that noi-" he stopped as he saw the broken window and emptied book case. "Okay, I leave you alone for ten minutes and you trash my room… _whyyyy_?" he lamented angrily, putting a gloved hand to his forehead.

"Ember did it!" Forge yelled before disappearing in a puff of glowing ashes.

"_EXCUSE_ me!?" Ember screamed in response.

---

"Doo dee doo," Breeze hummed while flying in a completely white and strangely blurry sky. He was too lost in his state of bliss to notice how strange his surroundings were. He stopped suddenly. "Huh? What is that I see in the distance?" He squinted and saw a small speck get larger and larger. It came closer and Breeze's eyes widened when he finally recognized what it was.

"What!? Can it be?!" he said in disbelieve. The speck was now large enough for the Djinni to see that it was a nut. "Yay! Nut! I must consume!" he sang. He started flying towards it. Strangely, the nut kept getting bigger and bigger. When he finally got close enough to touch, the it towered above him and was the size of two houses! "_Oooooooh_! That's a big ass nut!" The nut suddenly began to move. It turned around and on its top half were two large and powerful looking eyes.

"Greetings young elemental," it said in a powerful, booming voice.

"Oh. My. Gods. Can it be!?" Breeze said in awe.

_Yes, it is I, the great Nut king. I have come to you to dispel any doubts of my existence!_

"No way! You really are real! And here I am thinking those squirrels were crazy!"

_But alas, your previous disbelief of me cannot go unpunished!_

"Huh?" Breeze said confused. Out of nowhere, an acorn the size of a cannonball smashed into the side of his head.

---

Slap, slap!

"Nooo! I'm sorry for being a nonbeliever! Enough with the acorns!"

Slap!

"Ahhh, eh?" Breeze screamed as he came to. He awoke to find himself staring at Garet, who had apparently slapped him awake. He blinked and looked around. He was laying on Garet's pillow in his room and the mess had apparently been cleaned up already. Gale, Ember, and Forge were hovering above him as well. "Hey, where's the nut king?"

"Nut king?" the fire Djinni said in tandem.

"I think that window did a number on him…" Gale said.

"It was probably the books," added Garet.

"Ow, why'd you have to hit me so hard?" Breeze whined. He rubbed his cheek with a wing.

"I wasn't hitting _that_ hard…" Garet said defensively.

"I bet it was the _window_," Ember emphasized and gave an angry look at Forge, "that softened your face up." Garet turned towards the Jupiter Djinni and crossed his arms.

"Any particular reason you decided to cannonball through my window?"

Breeze blinked as he tried to gather his thoughts. "Um, let's see. Oh! I saw the yummiest plate of worms on the windowsill! I guess… I could have sworn that there was no window there…" Forge tried to stifle a laugh.

"Ew, you _eat _worms?!" Ember said in disgust.

"Yah!" the wind elemental replied in enthusiasm, "they taste much better than you'd think!"

"Breeze, what have you been doing while idling in Kolima Forest? Joining a family of birds?" Gale asked jokingly.

"Actually I joined a family of squirrels. The birds were our next branch neighbors!" he replied completely oblivious to Gale's tone, "I'd have to admit, they had very low standards of living compared to the squirrels. Their nests where total pigsties!" Garet and the Djinn just stared at him. Ember's eye twitched slightly and Breeze could feel their gazes burning him. "What? You guys act like I'm the only Djinni who did weird stuff while out and about!"

-----------

Yep, short chapter is short. Don't be afraid to say something if you like/hate it!


	8. Chapter 8 Fear the Flower!

Hey guys, Once again... I apologize for not writing quicker. I have slew of other projects on top of school that I need to tend to, so I kind of bounce here and there, completing a little bit at a time. Alright, so here you go!

xxxxx

Chapter 8: Fear the Flower!

Garet hastily ran around his room in search of something. "Where are my work gloves? I'm going to be late!" He, Felix, Piers, and the other workers were going to work on the northern gate of the Vale area that led outside of town. He had forgotten all about it while cleaning up the mess Breeze's "accident" made in his room.

"They're under your bed," Ember responded. Garet knelt down and reached under there, feeling around without looking.

"Ah!" he yelled as he quickly retracted his hand. "I felt something slimy under there! And it was _moving_." He peered under the bed, but it was too dark to see.

"Oh! Those are mine!" Forge announced. "Those are the worms I keep to lure the birds to the window."

"You… keep _worms _under my bed!?"

The Djinni nodded rapidly, amused by Garet's expression that combined feelings of irritation and being completely creeped out. A chill ran up the adept's spine.

"Get rid of them!" he commanded loudly. Breeze swooped under the piece of furniture and kicked out Garet's gloves.

"Thanks, Breeze," he said, slipping his hands into them and moving towards the door. Ember and Gale decided to tag along and hopped alongside him. "I'll be back in a few hours, you and Forge behave and don't break anything else," he said, not realizing whom he was talking to. Forge's mischievous tendencies and Breeze's destructive mishaps are not a good combination, and leaving them together without supervision is ill-advised. Garet was in too much of a hurry to realize his mistake.

While Breeze was under the bed, he just remembered he had Mia's letter in his little mailbag. "Wait, Garet! I have a letter fro-" the loud slam of the bedroom door cut him off. Garet was already gone and running down the road. "Aw darn."

Forge turned to the sheltered Djinni. "Want to play a game?"

"Pending. What be this game?"

"There's this huge rock in the back yard. Wanna go toss it around?"

"Big, heavy object hurdling through the air!? Sounds dangerous… let's go!" Breeze responded ecstatically.

"Yay! Onwards!" Forge yelled in similar enthusiasm. He hopped onto the windowsill, but Breeze did not follow. He turned around and saw that the purple elemental remained under Garet's bed. "Breeze! Come on! What are you doing?"

The Jupiter Djinni giggled and sang, "I'm under your bed, eating your wooorms!"

Forge gasped loudly. "Don't do that! Stop! Those are the source of amusement for tomorrow!" he protested before hopping under the bed to try to save his bait, or whatever was left of it.

xxxxx

At the heart of the newly built portion of Vault was a square where all of the roads converged. The center consisted of a large, round arrangement of flowers that framed a small monument in the middle. The monument itself was a simple altar that held a dazzling purple crystal whose size was about half the height of an average man and just as wide. It was the sole psynergy crystal that was found amongst the ruins of Vale, so it was erected in the center in remembrance of their ancient home.

Two creatures hopped out of the clusters of flowers and out into the road encircling the monument. One was a Venus Djinni, and its associate today was a Mercury Djinni. The blue elemental shuddered slightly as it focused its abilities, and a thin rain cloud formed above the arrangement to drizzle life-giving moisture atop the parched flowers.

The Venus Djinni did a small hop, signaling the other to stop. "Very good! That'll do!" she praised, turning to the blue creature. "Thanks so much Shade! We haven't had rain in so long, I was afraid my little garden would wither away."

"My pleasure, Flower!" Shade bowed, "the weather is indeed a bit dry for this time of year. We might get more rain next month."

Flower looked upon the garden surrounding the crystal centerpiece with deep, glowing pride. "Everything just looks perfect! Without that sentient tornado buzzing around these parts, I was finally able to complete my arrangement!"

"Are you referring to Breeze?"

"Eek!" she shushed him, "don't say his name! I'm afraid he might come back-"

"Gang way!" a high voice yelled from the distance. The two Djinn's attention was brought down the southern road and they saw a huge rock hurdling through the sky, heading right for them! They both shrieked and ducked out of the way as the boulder, roughly ten times the size of a watermelon, bounced through the flower bed, leaving several dents of damaged flora in its wake, before eventually rolling to a stop. Thankfully, it missed the crystal centerpiece.

Flower stood there and looked upon her ruined masterpiece in utter shock. Shade hopped up to her, but before he could say anything, a Jupiter Djinni landed right next to them.

"Oh damn!" he cursed when he saw the damage the rock had done, "That missed pass left quite an impression!" He was about to laugh, but when he turned to the other two Djinn, the urge quickly faded. Flower's eye was twitching, but she remained still. Shade was trying to elicit a response by waving his tail in front of her. "Hey, guys! What's up?" Breeze asked in cheerful obliviousness to the matter at hand.

"Breeze, it's nice to see you and all, but… dude, I think you should run," Shade suggested fearfully.

"Why?" Before his inquiry could be answered, his feathers ruffled as he felt a surge of psynergy _very_ close by. Flower, now over her shock and deep into a phase best described as bloody rage, was engulfed in an aura of yellow psynergy.

"_I will crush you!_" she bellowed in the most terrifying voice Breeze had ever heard. Two large fragments of earth burst up from the ground, and were angrily melded into the shape of menacing hands. The left one balled into a fist and was shot toward the purple elemental!

"Uh oh…" he murmured. He hopped into the air just as the fist-shaped boulder crushed the ground he was standing on mere milliseconds before. "Eeeyah!" he screamed as he tried to fly away along the north road. He attempted to gain altitude, but one of the stone hands cut him off.

"Flower!" Shade called out to her as she continued to try to pummel Breeze, "we can just redo it! You're going to cause more unnecessary damage!"

"Oooooh… I assure you, the damage I'm trying to cause is _quite_ necessary!" she said with so much anger, it caused Shade to take a step back. Breeze was gaining distance from her, but she wasn't about to let him go. "Get back here!"

"F-flower-"

"No!" she interrupted, "his purple ass is _mine_!" A small circle of light erupted around her as the piece of land she was standing on rose out of the ground with her atop it and gave chase to her prey.

"Oh, Gods…" Shade lamented as she flew away. A Mars Djinni formed right beside him and watched as Flower was having at it with Breeze with stone fists of fury.

"Wow, Breeze really should've have caught that pass," he said, with ever-so-slight amusement in his voice.

"Forge! What were you and Breeze doing with a freaking _boulder_?!"

Forge donned a mischievous expression. "We were playing catch! Psynergy with really heavy objects is a lot fun, y'know?"

"And dangerous!" Shade added, becoming slightly irritated with their utter lack of judgment.

"I know, right!? You should play with us next time!"

Shade's brow twitched angrily. He just hoped Flower won't damage anything too badly in her must-destroy-Breeze rage. Not surprisingly, this wasn't the first time. His previous shenanigans have obliterated her flower arrangements and invoked her anger many times before, but there was always the fear that someone would get seriously hurt one of these days.

Breeze dipped and dodged through the air as he avoided all manner of earthly attacks. The enraged Flower started to throw sharply pointed rocks at him, and every tree he flew by seemed to spring to life and try to ensnare him with psynergy-infused branches.

"Crap, crap, crap, crap!" he repeated to himself as he tried to dodge all the Venus Djinni's traps and projectiles. One of the stone fists just barely missed as he dropped from the air, but a nearby shrub burst into a flurry of vines and branches, constricting themselves around the little elemental. "Ah! No!" he yelled, trying to struggle free. The vines let him go with just enough time for the stone fists to wrap their powerful grip around him.

After the prey was caught, they brought it back to the angry elemental controlling them. "So, what have you got to say for yourself?" she asked blandly.

"I'm… sorry?" he responded, barely able to breathe in the tight grip. Her expression didn't change. "Can we, uh, talk about this?"

"I was willing to talk about it the first forty or so times you destroyed my garden!" she hissed, "this time, I'm going to personally pound some sense into you!"

"Hm… I see," Breeze said flatly. His eyes quickly flashed purple before a bright blast of lightning shot from the sky and struck the stony hands holding him place. The earthy structures were shattered and left a blinding cloud of dust that disoriented Flower and allowed him to fly away.

Flower coughed as the dust cleared around her. "Where did he go?!" she growled. She looked around and saw him still speeding down the north road towards the town exit. "Caught me off guard that time, but we shall see if it happens again!" She transformed into yellow light and melted into the ground, traveling along the road in hot pursuit.

xxxxx

"Okay got it?"

"Yeah, let's go"

"Alright, lift!"

"Ah! Wait! Losing my grip!"

"Okay, okay, drop it!"

Two young men were attempting to lift a very large, uncut, beam of wood a little ways outside of town. It was extremely heavy, and near impossible for just the two of them to move by themselves. The tree it came from was obviously massive.

"Ugh," groaned one of them, "Piers, why don't we cut this up before we move it?"

The blue-haired Lemurian shrugged. "We probably shouldn't, Felix. I think they said they don't want it cut yet. The planners probably have something in mind for it near the northern exit." On his shoulder sat a Mercury Djinni who nodded at everything he said.

"Fine," he said while stepping back and moving a sweaty lock of brown hair out of his eye, "we're just have to use a bit of psynergy."

"Alright."

Both men positioned themselves on either end of the beam and held out a hand. Closing their eyes, they focused their psynergy and engulfed the beam in ghostly light.

"Now let's move slowly…" Felix said as he started taking steps. Piers followed suit and the oversized item floated between, keeping pace. The duo kept going down the road until the northern exit of the town was in sight.

"Almost there!" The Mercury Djinni on Piers' shoulder shouted. Both were showing no signs of tiring as they near effortlessly escorted the beam towards the work area, but they stopped when they heard a strange sound. It was brief, but very loud crackling noise.

"What was that?" Piers asked, being sure to stay focused on keeping the object airborne.

Felix shrugged. "It sounded like lightning." They both looked up and saw no clouds in the sky. "Well, we'll check it out once we finish moving this thing." They started moving again, but Piers stopped once more.

"Wait, I hear something else," he said.

"What?" Felix asked. They both stood quietly and listened.

"Uwaaah! Gotta hide, gotta hide, gotta hide!" they heard in a rapid, panicky voice far away. The two adepts saw a purple spec speeding towards them from the sky. They both recognized that it was a Djinni, but were unable to tell which one it was.

"Who is that?" Piers asked, squinting his eyes to see if he could distinguish it. It's not like he could, since they all look identical anyway. The Djinni kept flying at full speed and flew straight into Piers' chest, fusing with his body. The sudden entry caused the water adept to break his concentration, dropping his side of the log on his foot. The pain that surged through his crushed appendage was so intense; he wasn't able to get out the tiniest of screams.

"Uh-oh," Felix said as he began to lose control of his side. The end result was similar; it landed on the poor adept's foot. Both of them writhed in pain and their faces turned countless shades of red.

"Ah! Piers!" the Mercury Djinni cried out in concern, "Breeze! What the hell are you doing!?" Breeze, who was inside of Piers, felt the pain that he had indirectly inflicted upon him.

_Eeep! Totally sorry about that! Just hide me from Flower for a bit! Okay?_

One of the men near the northern exit saw what was going on and rushed over. It was Garet, who had Ember and Gale resting on his shoulders.

"Hold on, guys!" he said as he held out a hand. He concentrated intensely to muster the psynergy to push the raw material off of the other two adepts' feet. "You alright?"

"Don't worry Piers! I'll heal you!" the blue elemental said as she quickly engulfed his foot in blue light.

He sighed in relief. "Ah… Thanks, Spring."

Felix, whose foot was still throbbing, was left unattended to. "Excuse me!? My foot got crushed, too!" he yelled. Spring paid no attention to the ailing adept. Ember shot a glance at her and sighed. She was apparently too wrapped up in healing Piers to care to give a vermin's rear end about Felix, so the Mars Djinni hopped down and wrapped her tail around his foot, and began to heal it herself.

As the two were being healed, Flower appeared before them from the ground. "Where. Is. Breeze?" she asked in a caustic and demanding tone. From the way she sounded, Piers was unsure whether or not it would be right to hand the Jupiter Djinni over to her! He could hear the elemental whining and pleading in his head.

_Shhh! Don't say anything! She's gonna eat meeeee!_

Spring narrowed her eyes after she finished healing. She took no time in making her choice and painlessly thrust her clawed tail into the chest of a startled Piers.

"No! Don't do it! Have mercy!" Breeze cried as Spring pulled him out and tossed him in front of his pursuer.

"Gotcha!" Flower cried triumphantly as vines sprouted from the ground and tangled themselves around Breeze.

"Dammit…" He turned to the one who ratted him out, "Spring, you suck."

Felix, now fully mended by the kind Ember, stood up and walked over to them. "Okay, what's going on here?" he asked, crossing his arms.

"Breeze here took it upon himself to destroy weeks of painstaking work!" Flower answered.

"Again?" wondered the three adepts and their Djinn.

"It was an accident!" Breeze cried in his defense.

"You always say that!" Flower yelled.

Felix walked between them as Flower was about to lunge at the captive elemental. "Hold up! Flower, just repair your garden, you've done it several times before, so you can do it again."

"But-" Felix held up a finger and silenced her.

"Now, Breeze," he said, turning to him, "You stay far away from Flower's garden!"

"Ooookay," the Jupiter Djinni submitted drearily.

"I mean it!" Felix said sternly. Breeze nodded rapidly, and Felix waved a hand and dispelled his vine prison. Flower let out a loud "humph" before turning away and hopping back in the direction of her shambled arrangement. The earth adept looked down the road and saw the damage that was caused by the chase and shook his head. There was stone debris and malformed plant-life all down the road, but none of the buildings were damaged… _this_ time.

"Great… now we have to clean up the mess you two made," he said, glaring down at Breeze.

"Thank you oh great and powerful leader!" Breeze chanted.

"Piers would make a much better leader," Spring mumbled under her breath.

"What was that?" the Lemurian asked.

"Nothing, nothing!" she lied and quickly tried to change the subject. "Is your foot okay?! Let me make sure!" she began to heal his foot again.

"No, I'm fine, thanks anyway," he said, raising a hand to assure her.

The Mercury Djinni blushed a bit. "Oh, ok…"

Breeze saw this out of the corner of his eye, and tilted his head curiously.

The next few hours went by rather quickly. Breeze rambled on and on in the background about the reasons he left the company of Ivan and, in his own opinion, the "evil witch known as Sheba" while the adepts worked alongside the other workers and began putting together a fairly nice archway that framed the exit. Much to Felix's irritation, Piers had misheard the workers who did, indeed, want the beam to cut up into planks. He quickly got over it as Piers had already paid for it with the crushing of his foot.

Garet had once again entered his distant state of mind where he worked and responded very little to what people were saying to him. His companions worried about him hurting himself again, so they dismissed him. Felix and Piers said they would take care of the "Djinni damage" on their own.

"Oh, wow," Gale said in amazement as he glanced left and right at the large stones on the sides of the road. "She was really trying to kill you!" The three Djinn hovered around Garet as he walked home.

"Oh, yeah… totally," Breeze responded, sounding a bit distant himself. Garet's mood was certainly affecting him. He could feel how far away his mind was and the strange combination of fear and sadness that he kept bottled inside. From the looks of it, Ember was feeling the adept's mood as well.

The four passed by the square with the ruined patch of flowers shortly. Garet paid little attention, but Ember and Gale winced at what they saw. The source of Flower's anger was clear. Breeze tried to keep his attention on the road, but he saw Flower amongst the flora out of the corner of his eye. She gave him a hateful death-stare so angrily that it burned holes into his very soul. The Jupiter Djinni stiffened, trying to keep his sight ahead and hoping the angry Venus Djinni wouldn't launch a second attack. Thankfully, she didn't, and returned to repairing her garden. It occurred to him that Dew wanted to pass a greeting to her, but now was definitely not the time.

The four returned to Garet's home without incident. On his way up to his room, his grandparents greeted him, but he didn't respond any more than with a simple wave. He laid down on his bed and stared at the ceiling. It seemed that's what he always did when he got in this mood. Strangely, Forge was nowhere to be found.

Gale flew over to the window. "Well, guys, it's been fun, but I'm going to head back over to the mountain range to the north."

"Aw, so soon?" Ember said, and Gale nodded. "Then it was nice seeing you, again. Come visit whenever," she added cheerfully

"Breeze, if you ever get lost again, I'll be where you found me, or where I found you, I should say," he teased at his kin's directional shortcomings.

"Yeah, yeah," Breeze replied, slightly irritated, "see you around then, bro." Gale nodded and dematerialized outside the window into a light gust that blew northward. Breeze let out a low sigh.

"What's the matter?" Ember asked.

"Garet seems unlike himself. He's really killing the mood all up in here!" he said, flailing his wings.

"Ah, so you noticed too?" She turned to the aloof adept. "It doesn't take much to wonder why."

A candle lit up in Breeze's head as he remembered what he wanted to give Garet earlier that day. He hovered over to the desk and pulled a piece of paper from his pouch.

"Gareeeet! I has somethings to cheers you ups!" he sang in intentionally poor grammar as he flew over to the bed. The adept sat up and took the paper.

"What's this?" he asked. Ember also eagerly waited to hear what it was.

"It's a letter from Mia!" Breeze answered cheerfully. The response shocked Garet and he quickly unfolded the letter and glued his eyes to it.

"Why didn't you say you had that earlier?" Ember asked, turning to the Jupiter Djinni.

"With the window crashing, the unconsciousness, the worm-talk, and the being chased by the blood-thirsty mistress of flora, it kinda slipped my mind once or twice," he smiled.

"Ah, good points," Ember nodded, "You sure do get into a whole lot in such a short time."

"I have a knack for it, I guess!"

Breeze watched in silence as the fire adept's eyes moved left and right as he scanned every line of the letter. The tone of the room quickly changed as he finished. It was much less dreary, but not exactly the happy and carefree feeling Breeze was hoping for. Garet looked up and donned a contemplative expression before reading the letter over again. Breeze was quickly losing interest, but there was a knock on the door that broke the quiet.

"Garet, supper's ready," announced a female voice. It was Garet's older sister, Kay. He didn't respond, so she knocked on the door again. "Garet, you in there?"

That time, she broke his focus and he answered. "Yeah, I am! I'll be down in a second." His response was followed by light footsteps heading downstairs. Garet folded up the letter and stuck it in his pocket before following his sister down to the dining room, leaving the two elementals in his room. In polar contrast to Forge, Ember was much more responsible. She'd keep an eye on Breeze.

Once he reached the bottom of the stars, he saw Kay staring out of the window, captivated by something. He quietly walked up behind her and peered over her shoulder without her noticing. She was staring at Piers, who was walking down the road. Garet was a bit surprised. They must of cleaned up the damage quite quickly.

"What's this I see?" Garet smiled, "has my exotic friend caught the eye of my dearest sister?"

His teasing snapped her out of her daze and she blushed angrily. "W-What? No, I was…" she stopped when she realized that objecting was futile. "Okay, fine, you caught me," she huffed. Garet put his hands on his hips triumphantly.

"Why not talk to him, Kay?" he asked, "he's more approachable than most guys I know." He was probably referring to Felix, who's silent and intense demeanor made people run away.

"No…no," she turned away, "He looks like the type who likes younger girls. Isn't he about your age?"

"Not exactly," Garet chuckled to himself. He was _far_ older than either of them because of the longevity possessed by the denizens of Lemuria, the ancient city hidden in the Eastern Sea. If he did happen to like younger girls, then he had quite a lot of people to choose from! Even his grandmother was eligi- wait, what? Garet shook his head to prevent any other disturbing thoughts from floating into his head.

"And another thing… That little fairy thing with the crab-tail that's always with him…" Kay began, unable to remember what the creature was called.

"What, you mean Spring?"

"Yeah! It just… creeps me out!" she admitted, wrapping her arms around herself. "It gives me this… evil look every time I look in his direction!" Kay turned back towards the window, and spotted Spring on the Lemurian's shoulder. As if on cue, she narrowed her yellow eyes and glared at Kay. "See! It did it again!"

Garet leaned forward and saw what she was talking about. "Huh, that's strange. She's not one to be mean."

"Kids, come on! We're waiting on you," their father announced. They both gave one last look at the strange Mercury Djinni before heading to eat. After they left, a light gust whirled around and Breeze formed out of it.

"Ah, very interesting," he thought to himself, taking note of everything he heard as if he was on a mission of information gathering.

xxxxx

Meep! Tell me what ya think. I needs feedback... it sustains me! Oh, I used X's cause it seems like it won't save my usual way to divide scenes... weird. So little x's shall take the place of my beloved dashes.


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